


Stunt Double

by LazyLix89



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band), X Factor (US), camren
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-24 21:16:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1617323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyLix89/pseuds/LazyLix89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon catches onto the buzz about #Camren amongst 5H fans and decides to take advantage of it to promote album sales, forcing the girls to go public with their (so far nonexistent) romance. Follow the girls through three months of flirtationship, scandal, and paparazzi as they blur the line between acting and reality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Part I**

Camila and Lauren shared nervous glances as they were asked to step into Simon’s office as a pair rather than with the other girls as a whole. They had always met with the full group before, so it was strange to find them singled out. They took seats on a small couch that faces his desk and they exchanged typical greetings and small talk before Simon’s tone turned serious again.

“The other producers and I have been doing some research on your fan base, including polls as well as scans of social media tags. The reason I’ve asked to speak with you, Lauren and Camila, about this specifically is because the top subject matter involves well…the two of you.”

Lauren and Camila gave Simon a blank look, not following where Simon was going yet.

“How much do you know about Camren” Simon asks, prompting the girls to understand the direction of the conversation.

Lauren rolls her eyes and Camila blushes, both more aware of their ship name than they’d like to admit.

“If you’re wondering if it’s real…” Lauren begins, but Simon raises his hand to stop her.

“No, I’m well aware that neither of you would confirm this rumor to be true. Except I’m now going to ask that you both do exactly that.”

The girls look at Simon like he has grown an extra head.

“You want me to tell our fans that I’m dating Lauren?” Camila manages to choke out after her initial shock.

“There’s no way I’d take it public intentionally, even if it were true,” Lauren adds, attempting to stand her ground.

“Well…I’m not asking you. I’m telling you,” Simon declares, looking very relaxed for a man sitting in a room with a gradually increasing tension level.

“What if it jeopardizes our relationships with our family…our friends…our fans? I know you said it’s a hot topic, but isn’t it wrong to make ourselves out to be someone we’re not? Lauren’s straight.”

“If it will sell records, which I have no doubt it will, then it’s worth more than any collateral damage.”

“So that’s it then? Either I fake a same sex relationship with Camz or what…I’ll be out of the band?” Lauren pushes.

“No, you’re under contract. But if you want to sell enough records to keep all five of you girls’ careers going…” Simon trailed off matter-of-factly.

“Can Lauren and I speak in private for a moment?” Camila requests.

“Certainly. I’ll return in a few moments to discuss details of the reveal and expectations moving forward.”

Simon exits the office, leaving the girls to process the last five minutes in silence before Lauren finally speaks.

“Are we going to do this?”

Camila nods timidly.

“What choice do we have?”

“There need to be guidelines. Like how long are we going to let people believe we’re a couple? Just long enough to get the results he wants, right?”

“Well, the album drops in two months. So at max let’s say three months.”

“Three months. That should fly on by I guess.”

“How far do you think we’ll be expected to go with the PDA?”

“Minimal PDA, I hope. Just enough to keep the Camren tag full and creating buzz about us and the album.”

“No kissing. No offense, but I don’t want to waste my first on a fake girlfriend.”

“Definitely no offense taken. Holding hands should be enough,” Lauren reasoned.

“Okay so…what about the girls? Dinah, Mani, and Ally have to be in on it. How do you think they’re gonna feel about us agreeing to do this?”

“I don’t know. We’ll ask Simon what he was planning on having us say to them.”

As if on cue, the older man returns to the office and starts where they left off.

“All right, girls…where were we?”

“Camila and I have agreed to be girlfriends…under some conditions.” Lauren announced.

“Go on…”

“Lauren and I will only keep the relationship going for three months, until around when the first month of sales get reported. We’re okay with hugging or holding hands, but no kissing or anything more suggestive than that. Also, we want to tell the other girls first,” Camila lists aloud confidently.

“I will accept the three months on a trial basis…given that a mutual, friendly breakup is staged after record sales are reported at an acceptable level. But I’m not guaranteeing your demands regarding public displays of affection. I cannot predict what all will be required to make the charade a success, but you will be putting on a performance that must convince everyone you’re actually in some kind of love. Also, the others will not be aware that it’s a stunt.”

“Why not?” Lauren begins to argue.

“In order to fool those looking in at a distance, you must also put on a show for those with whom you are close. Their reactions will be more genuine and boost the angle for believability if they think you’ve really begun dating.”

“Won’t they feel betrayed when they find out later…like when we break up?” Camila worries aloud.

“They don’t have to find out it was staged. You can tell them you’ve realized it was better for you and the group to only be friends, and cause as little disturbance as possible in your relationship with each of them.”

“Are we allowed to tell our families before the official announcement?” Camila inquires nervously.

“Um about that…I don’t actually know how my parents will feel about this,” Lauren admits.

“I can be there with you when you tell them,” Camila offers.

“If they turn out really upset I need to tell them the truth. Play it off as a prank or something. I can’t let the respect they have for me change, or their support. It means the world to me and…”

Camila places a hand on Lauren’s knee to calm her down.

“Lo, I don’t think your parents seem like the type to disown you for loving me.”

“I know, Camz, but this just hasn’t come up before and I don’t know what to expect.”

“We can cross that bridge tomorrow,” Simon interrupts, “and we’ll organize tonight how the reveal will be formatted. It will happen over the weekend.”

“Are we free to go for now,” Lauren asks impatiently.

“Yes, but keep in mind that the other girls need to see signs of your budding romance from now until you tell them, or it might not come across serious enough to them. After you have told your families, and before you announce it to fans, you can tell the girls. Got it?”

Lauren and Camila nod their heads and excuse themselves from the office.

Camila begins walking back to where they can meet their bandmates, but Lauren takes hold of her wrist to stop her.

“Hold on a sec,” Lauren requests softly.

“I’m still really nervous. Like more than I was for my X Factor audition if you’ll believe it. I know you have experience with talking to your parents about this stuff…so what should I say?”

Camila nods towards the nearest room, a tech equipment storage space, and Lauren joins her inside.

“To be honest, it just kinda happened for me. I was watching TV and I exclaimed a little too loudly when my favorite actress came on and she was particularly stunning in this one scene. My mom had walked into the room and raised an eyebrow at me, so I explained that the woman was really pretty. Then I kinda followed it up with a ‘sometimes I like guys, sometimes I like girls’ commentary, and she told me that whoever I fall in love with, the priority is that they treat me how I deserve.”

Lauren leans against the door and sighs.

“What are the chances that your mom and my mom share a brain?”

Camila smiles.

“Maybe if this really does cause our album to sell an unheard of number of copies, we’ll be rich enough to afford that medical procedure.”

Lauren shoves Camila playfully.

“Thanks for lightening the mood at least.”

“Hey, what are girlfriends for?” Camila teases.

“I guess I’m about to find out,” Lauren smirks.

“Touche.”

“But seriously…after we get done with work today I’m gonna Skype my parents. You can be there, right?”

“I suppose I can pencil you in,” Camila agrees as she pretends to be pondering her schedule of events for the day, “but aren’t we meeting with Simon again tonight? And he said we’d discuss it more tomorrow.”

“We’ll have some time between rehearsals and the meeting tonight; besides, if I put this off I’ll most definitely lose my nerve.”


	2. Part II

**Part II**

When late afternoon arrives all the girls are exhausted and hungry. They order pizza and lounge around while they wait for it to be delivered. Taking Simon’s advice, Lauren and Camila sit with each other and stay very close physically throughout the day. Lauren even brings Camila a plate of pizza once it arrives, which helps Camila decide that she could really get used to this dating stuff.

“Why isn’t Mila getting her own food?” Mani questions, noticing that Lauren is behaving differently.

“Yeah Laur, did you lose a bet again?” Dinah laughs.

“Chill guys, it’s hashtag Camren,” Ally mocks.

Camila freezes and Lauren thinks quickly as she laughs it off for the both of them.

“Can’t a girl do her daily random act of kindness without receiving the third degree?”

“Yeah, she is just boosting her karma points,” Camila insists as not to raise suspicion.

“More like winning Karla points,” Ally whispers under her breath and Lauren glares over at her, effectively bringing her to silence.

“Yall are acting strange though,” Normani accuses.

“Yeah, Jauregui, you can’t be a diva and do people favors at the same time,” Dinah adds.

Lauren throws a pillow across the room at her.

“Alright girls we have a couple hours to kill. What’re we gonna do?” Ally cuts in, ceasing Dinah’s plans to retaliate.

“Lauren and I have plans,” Camila informs them as she gets up from the couch her and the aforementioned girl were sharing and reaches out a hand to help her up as well.

“Are we invited?” Normani inquires, raising an eyebrow as she notices their hands linger together a little too long after Camila has already successfully lifted Lauren up to her feet.

“Sorry Mani, it’s kind of an embarrassing thing that Camila found out about by accident, so I am only bringing her.”

The other girls shrug as the pair makes their exit. From behind them, as the door is closing, they can hear Dinah say, “I think those two are up to no good.”

A half hour later they are in Lauren’s room and getting ready to Skype out to her parents on her laptop. Her siblings are probably not home yet because they have after school activities, so it’s the perfect time to speak to just her parents.  

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Camila asks for at least the third time.

“Please stop asking me that,” Lauren pleads, but it comes out a bit rougher like a demand.

“Sorry. You know I repeat things a lot when I get nervous.”

“If they get upset, you know they’re gonna be too busy feeling disappointed in me to be mad at you, right?”

Camila shakes her head.

“It wouldn’t bother me if they got mad at me. How they treat you afterward is more important. They love you so much that they cried, and your dad was shaking, when you auditioned, Laur. I want that to be the image of your family that I always remember...”

She is interrupted by an incoming call message flashing on the screen.

“Time to rip off the bandaid…” Lauren signs as she hits the button to accept a video call.

Her father and mother wave and they greet each other with smiles all around.

“Hi girls, where are the other ladies? I thought you had some news for us!” Her dad exclaims.

“Yeah dad, there’s news, but it’s not about Fifth Harmony,” Lauren starts, trying to keep an even tone to mask her true emotions.

“Oh well, I’m still excited to hear it,” her mother adds, and her dad nods in agreement.

“So you know Camz?” Lauren says while gesturing to the smaller girl beside her stupidly.

Both her parents nod, confused why they are being introduced to the girl they’ve already met several times. Camila smiles and gives Lauren an encouraging look, staying quiet as they had agree since Lauren wanted to be the one to break the news at her own pace and in her own way, which clearly involved some stalling.

“Well she’s actually really awesome and uh…”

Lauren pauses, not content with her own phrasing, but not sure how to rewind.

“Sheismygirlfriendandwearegoingtobedatingnow” Lauren utters so quickly that they almost miss what she is saying completely. Even Camila who knows the news finds her forehead scrunching in confusion.

“Lauren, honey, I’m having a little trouble understanding you,” her mom replies honestly.

“Is our connection that bad or did you enter a speedtalking competition over there?” her dad jokes.

“Sorry…” Lauren trails off and finally feels calm enough to say it at a normal pace. “What I’m trying to tell you is that Camila and I have been dating and we’ve decided to make it official.”

Camila reaches out to take Lauren’s right hand in her left one and squeezes it for comfort.

“Aw, mija, that’s great!” her mom gushes while her dad sports a more concerned posture.

“Lauren, does Simon know about this?”

If only he knew, the girls both thought.

“Yeah. He’s the one organizing how we’re going to tell the fans. But we wanted you to know first,” Lauren explains.

“What about the rest of the girls?” he continues.

“We’re telling them next,” Camila assures him.

“I know you can’t help who you have feelings for, and I think you’re a wonderful young lady Camila, but I’m worried about how both of you will be treated when your relationship gets in the hands of the media,” her dad explains.

“Will it cause problems for the group?” her mom wonders.

“Camila and I have talked it out a lot. We are sure the other girls will accept our decision to pursue a relationship as long as it doesn’t affect how we perform or record.”

“Which it won’t cause it’s still priority #1 since we love what we do and wouldn’t want to compromise how far we’ve come,” Camila assures them.

“Right, and as for fans…it’s impossible to know I guess. We got where we are because of them, and I hope they stick by us for reasons that have to do with our music, not our personal lives,” Lauren decides.

“Just be careful. I want to be clear that I do trust both of you. It’s wandering cameras and reporters I worry about. You deserve more privacy and respect than they might offer you sometimes, and I want you to feel comfortable talking to me if anyone consistently bothers you in any way, alright?” Lauren’s father insists, directing his look mostly to Camila so she knows he is addressing her at least as much as his own daughter.

“Yes sir,” Camila responds with a nod, which Lauren mirrors.

“We have another meeting with Simon soon. I’ll talk to you guys in a couple days?” Lauren asks in a hopeful tone.

“Of course, honey. Thank you for calling us. I’m happy for you both,” her mom insists.

“That means so much to me and Lauren, Mrs. Jauregui. Thank you so much,” Camila replies with a wide grin.

“I love you, Mom, Dad. Talk to you soon!” Lauren waves to them as they wrap up the video call.

Lauren lets out a deep breath and falls back on her bed in relief.

“Wow, that went so much better than it could have…” she admits.

Camila lays down beside her, propping her head up with her arms and hands behind her head.

“I’m really proud of you, Lo Lo,” Camila states honestly.

“Thank you for helping me through this. I guess it’s good to know my family is open minded about love. Too bad not everyone shares that view.”

Camila rolls onto her side, facing Lauren.

“Blocking those other people out gets easier with time. Just like when we get hate tweets either individually or as a group. I know you filter those out like a champ, so you’re ready for anything that gets thrown at us now.”

“I’m sorry,” Lauren says randomly, rolling to her side also so she’s now facing Camila with one arm being propped up to keep her head in place.

“For what?”

“That I’m your first girlfriend and it’s by force. I mean, it’s not like my first boyfriend was a fairytale or anything. We held hands in the hall for like a week and a half and the only place he kissed me was on my cheek. Like we didn’t even go on a date unless you count the cafeteria at lunch. But at least it was our choice.”

They both giggle at the memory of how middle school relationships go, Lauren from experience and Camila from observation.

“There’s plenty of time for me to find prince or princess charming. In the meantime I don’t mind claiming you. Like let’s be real. Do you know how many boys…and girls…would be swooning to be in my place right now?”

Lauren smacks Camila’s arm with the back of her hand teasingly.

“Shut up…there’s gotta be at least as many who will be disappointed you’re off the market,” Lauren reasons.

“But do they love us for our looks, our fame, or our brain?”

“Definitely not YOUR brain…” Lauren jokes, and Camila immediately pretends to be offended.

“Ouch, Jauregui. At least offer an ice pack when you’re planning to drop a burn like that.”

“The ice would immediately melt,” Lauren claims.

“Oh, so you really think you’re that hot?” Camila accuses.

“Please Camz, it’s a fact of life.”

“Then why are you still single?”

“I’m not. You’re my girlfriend, remember?”

“That’s right. I got really lucky.”


	3. Part III

Part III

  
“Okay girls, this is what we’re going to do,” Simon begins his explanation of what the girls will be required to do for revealing their relationship to the public as the three of them have begun their second meeting in his office.

“Since Twitter has the most buzz about Camren, that will be your platform. I’ve arranged reservations for you at one of my favorite restaurants this Saturday evening. You’ll dress appropriately for the occasion, order whatever you like, and they’ll put it on my tab. Lauren, your job is to offer Camila a charm bracelet that I’ll provide for you tonight. Camila, you will accept Lauren’s gift and agree to be her girlfriend. In your excitement, you’ll snap a picture of yourself wearing the bracelet and upload it. It’s up to you what the caption will say, but it must be clear to the fans that Lauren has given it to her new girlfriend. Any questions?”

“Am I expected to make up a story about whatever charms are on the bracelet? I know somebody will ask. It’s inevitable,” Lauren reasons.

“Very likely, yes. It’s part of the role. Most of it will be improv, that’s the nature of the beast. But you will have possession of the bracelet here shortly, so inspect it and make its story your own.”

Simon pulls out a small silver chain with no more than five separate charms attached to it, and drops it into Lauren’s extended hand. Both girls look it over closely, taking note of each individual charm.

“A palm tree, a bow, a pizza slice, a quarter note, and an X,” Camila lists audibly to the others.

“This definitely belongs on Camila’s wrist,” Lauren teases.

“You know me so well, Lo,” Camila replies with a nudge, prompting Lauren to roll her eyes.

“Anyone who pays any attention to you at all could have come up with this assortment,” Lauren insists.

“Don’t sell yourself short now. This is going to be the first gift from my first girlfriend. I’m gonna be pretty ecstatic,” Camila admits.  

“Perfect. So we’re all set then? You can tell the other girls whenever you’re ready,” Simon cuts in.

“Yes, we’re ready,” Lauren asserts as Camila nods along in agreement.

“Thank you sincerely for your cooperation, girls. I have full confidence in you and your abilities to deliver an excellent performance, just as you have shown myself and your fans several times through your music.”

They are dismissed from Simon’s office and set out for a quiet evening at their temporary home.

Too bad their band mates had not-so-quiet plans.

When Lauren and Camila get back to the house the other girls are in the living room and shouting at each other as they go head-to-head in Just Dance.

“Wow, don’t any of you ever get worn out?” Lauren quips, clearly astounded that they are choosing to dance again after they got plenty of similar exercise in rehearsal.

Ally paused the game and they all relaxed.

“We’re focusing on vocals tomorrow anyway,” Normani reminds her as she allows herself to crash down on the nearest recliner.

“Yeah and we also ate our weight in nachos earlier, so more calories to burn,” Dinah adds.

“What about you two? You’ve been AWOL like all day,” Ally interrogates.

“We lost track of time,” Laurens lies easily.

“And she owed me ice cream for tagging along for that embarrassing thing from earlier,” Camila continued.

“Okay then, are yall planning on hanging for a bit now or going to bed?” Normani asks.

“Actually, Camz and I have an announcement,” Lauren speaks up.

Camila looks over at Lauren with a question in her eyes, not realizing Lauren wanted to drop the bomb so soon. Lauren shrugs and gives Camila the floor.

“Um…” Camila begins, not trusting herself to form an intelligible sentence at that moment.

Lauren grabs Camila’s hand and whispers in her ear, “you’ve got this, babe.”

Shivers run up Camila’s spine at that moment, something she wouldn’t have been able to fake if she tried. And it’s ironic, feeling something so real in the midst of being expected to lie confidently through her teeth.

“The fans were right about us,” Camila bursts out before gesturing between herself and Lauren.

“Ay dios mio,” Ally reacts, Dinah and Normani sharing looks of disbelief.

“Are we on Punk’d?” Dinah asks seriously.

“Mila, you better not be messin with us right now,” Normani demands, looking at Lauren for confirmation one way or the other.

“We’ve been sneaking around to go on dates,” Lauren confirms.   

“We’re sorry we didn’t tell you sooner,” Camila apologizes.

“The fans are gonna freak,” Normani asserts.

“This is gonna make my Camren jokes less funny,” Ally laments.

“I’m opening up a can of whoop ass on you both if you break each other’s hearts,” Dinah threatens.

Dinah moves to give them both a celebratory hug, immediately joined into a group hug by adding Normani and Ally.

“So we’re still cool?” Camila asks the others timidly after they all pull away.

“Course,” they respond, almost in unison.

“I just can’t wait to see how whipped Lauren gets,” Normani jests.

“Hey!” Lauren pouts, causing Camila to poke her in the arm and Ally to shake her head.

“C’mom Lauren, you know Mila’s gonna run the show,” Dinah states matter-of-factly.

“I think it could go either way,” Ally maintains neutrally.

“Thank you,” Lauren directs at the older girl of the group.

“Don’t I get any say in this? I’m one half of this ship after all…” Camila reminds them.

“See? She’s already trying to take control,” Dinah points out in victory.

“Okay. I am so done with this conversation. I’m going to bed for real,” Lauren announces, making a clean exit and leaving Camila to fend for herself, post-announcement.

“Aren’t you going to follow your girl?” Normani directs at Camila.

Camila shakes her head as she gets comfortable on the couch.

“We’ve been together all day. Now is unwind time. Do any of you find the fourth Wii controller yet?”

Everyone shakes their head, indicating the negative. 


	4. Part IV

Part IV

As the clock drew nearer to 7pm on Saturday evening, both Lauren and Camila felt their nerves reach a new extreme. They had both told their families about their relationship now and everyone in the band was on the same page, but this was a new territory they were about to enter. It was going to be their first date together and they had to be on point with making it look like one in case people around them documented any of it somehow before their actual announcement.

Neither of them knew what the other was going to wear because they decided it would be more genuine if they were surprised and could actually react since the other girls were hanging around before they left. Camila of course picked a blouse/skirt combo that would easily drop any guy (or girl for that matter) on their ass in awe. Lauren selected a full, light blue dress that ended just above her knees. When they met in the common room around 6:45, they felt instant relief at how easy it was to exchange compliments.

“Wow Lauren, that dress is stunning on you,” Camila exclaimed in full honesty as she took a moment to examine her from bottom to top.

Lauren smiled and took a similar peek at her dinner companion.

“You clean up nicely, too, Cabello,” she teased in response.

Normani, Ally, and Dinah, who were in a circle on the floor arguing over which board game to play, took their attention away for a moment to see their date attire.

 “Damn girls, who you trying to impress?” Dinah quips.

“Each other, doofus,” Normani replies.

“You both look really beautiful. I hope you have a fabulous time,” Ally adds, sounding like the big sister they never had.

“Thanks guys, we better get going though. Our driver is probably waiting outside,” Lauren reminds Camila.

“See everyone later!” Camila semi-shouts as they exit the front door.

Between the house and the restaurant Lauren found herself checking her purse several times to make sure the charm bracelet was where it should be. She had worried ever since the idea was proposed that it would somehow get lost or forgotten. Unknown to Camila or Simon, Lauren had snuck on 2 additional charms, bringing the total to a lucky 7 which she knew was an important superstition to the other girl. It made her feel more connected to the gift that she had put her own final touches on it, and she hoped Camila would feel the same way.

They went through the motions of a typical low key dinner date despite the higher class atmosphere of the restaurant chosen by Simon. It was discussed beforehand that they would take turns asking questions they didn’t think they knew the answer to about each other yet, and it was working perfectly. Their conversation went off on many tangents and it was flowing like a believable date between two people getting to know each other better. Unexpectedly, the most uncomfortable part of the evening turned out to be the waitress who did a poor job at containing the fact that she not only recognized them, but might even ship them from the unmasked giddiness she displayed every time she came by their table (which they would swear was more often than she was checking in on other people).

Towards the end of their meal when their plates were almost completely empty, Lauren cleared her throat and reached into her purse to retrieve the charm bracelet, deciding it was the best time. She kept it clenched inside a small fist under the table so the timing would be right when she brought it out and “surprised” Camila.

“Camz,” Lauren began, looking directly into the eyes of the girl sitting opposite from her.

“Yeah ‘Ren?” Camila responded, trying to play dumb about what was coming up.

“I have really enjoyed spending this one-on-one time with you recently, just the two of us. You’ve made it so easy for me to open up to you and you’ve trusted me in return. We’re learned so much about each other and I consider everything that has happened so far as evidence of how you and I just fit. So I’m hoping you’ll do me the honor of letting me call you my girlfriend?” Lauren finishes as she brings her fist out from under the table and opens it to reveal the shiny gift.  

Camila’s eyes shine as bright as her smile as she examines the bracelet and nods her head, not failing to notice the extra charms that weren’t there when Simon initially gave it to Lauren.

“Yes, Lo, of course I’ll be your girlfriend,” Camila agrees.

Lauren automatically reaches over to Camila’s left wrist, grabbing it lightly to help her put on the bracelet. Camila’s stomach churns upon contact and she thinks Lauren’s touch lingers a little longer than necessary after snapping the chain into place. Between this and the speech, Camila decides Lauren could probably win an Oscar. This begins to cause a sinking feeling within Camila, realizing that if anyone is going to screw this up it’s obviously going to be her. She shakes it off for now, knowing the ball is in her court to make the announcement on Twitter.

“This is so lovely, Lo Lo. I can’t wait to show it off,” Camila insists, setting her phone onto the camera feature and snapping a quick pic for Instagram. She lets her attention linger on the phone as she begins to type a message into her caption that will get transferred to Twitter. Lauren eyes her suspiciously, as if she can’t tell what Camila is doing.

“Babe, are you posting that?” Lauren asks, sounding concerned as she grips the upper side of Camila’s phone to pause her actions.

“Yes. I want to remember this night…have proof of this moment. If I could just forget the fame for a minute, if this was just you and I back in Miami, I would have uploaded something like this in a heartbeat. I’d want the people closest to me, to us, to see how amazing and sweet you are…how lucky I am to have you,” Camila begins to rant, getting into character of what she would tell someone if this really was her first relationship. It rolls off the tongue so easily it almost scares her.

Lauren detects nothing but seriousness in Camila’s tone and expression as she explains why she’s uploading the photo, and she finds herself having a real emotional reaction to Camila’s words, focusing a bit of energy on holding back a tear that dares to escape as she’s caught up in the moment.

Lauren withdraws her hands from Camila’s phone and nods slowly.

“Why hide what feels right?”

Camila put the finishing touches on the caption and uploaded the photo as planned.

Lauren uses her phone to see what it says since Camila hadn’t told her what exactly she planned to say.

“I guess you could say @LaurenJauregui has CHARMed her way into my heart,” Lauren reads quietly aloud.

“Sorry I’m such a cheeseball,” Camila blushes slightly.

Lauren smiles and shakes her head softly.

“No, it’s perfect. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she assures her.  

Camila nods as they are interrupted briefly to have their dishes taken away by the waitress. She sees the new addition to Camila’s wrist and glows instantly, smirking so wide you’d think she received a puppy for Christmas. When she finally backs off, getting back to work, Lauren whispers across the table to Camila.

“Do you think she’s President of our fanclub or what?”

“Mmmhmm. I bet she’s in the kitchen, sneaking on her phone, tweeting about us right now.”

“I guess we’re gonna have to get used to it. It’s weird…but better to know people who are a little too invested in our love lives than people who only know how to send hate, I suppose?”   

“There will be plenty of both. Good thing work keeps us busy. We won’t have time to read the half of it.”

“Agreed. Your opinion is the only one that counts to me anyway,” Lauren admits.

“Ditto…and on that note I’d like you to know that these two charms are my favorite,” Camila point to the ones in question.

Lauren smiles when she sees her pointing to the ones she picked out herself.

“I felt like it was missing something at first, so I added the set of the two little characters, the tall girl representing the big sister and the shorter girl representing the little sister. We all struggle with time away from our families, but I know it’s especially hard on the two of you because of the age gap. She looks up to you so much and I can tell it was difficult for her to understand why you disappeared often in the beginning. Now you’ll carry her with you…kinda.”

Camila got up from her seat and surprised Lauren with hug, one that she really meant and not one she would have only put on for show. She tried to control her breathing as she placed her mouth near Lauren’s ear and whispered, “thank you so much.” 


	5. Part V

Part V

They were on their way back from the restaurant and their bandmates were already blowing up their phones.

“OMFG you guys are trending on Twitter worldwide!” Normani group texted to both Camila and Lauren with a screenshot to demonstrate.

Lauren looked up from her phone and looked over at Camila, trying to gauge her reaction.

Camila offered a small grin and reached over to join their hands together, preparing for their arrival back to their place with the girls.

She squeezed Lauren’s hand lightly as they exited the car and stood on the sidewalk. Before going inside, Camila turned her back to the front door and grabbed Lauren’s other hand as well, so both hands were joined together as they faced each other.

“Thank you for a wonderful dinner. I hope we can go out again soon. Although it might be more stressful now that people are looking for #Camren moments,” she adds with air quotes around their ship name.

Lauren nods and lets her hands fall loosely by her sides after Camila had let go of them to do the air quotes.

“Let’s focus on us the rest of tonight, or us and the girls, I guess. We can worry about all the fan buzz tomorrow.”

They go inside and are expectedly bombarded with attention from the girls who have all had the chance to see the hype online.

“So many fans are celebrating right now. Who knew Team Camren was so strong?” Dinah wondered aloud to the group.

“Ally did,” Lauren and Camila say at the same time, causing a mutual “aww” from the others.

“I didn’t start it, I just observed,” Ally defends.

“You saw my texts, right?” Normani asks.

They both nod. Camila reaches out her left arm to show them her bracelet, knowing it’s what Normani was waiting for her to do. Normani holds up Camila’s wrist as she inspects the charms curiously.

“Wow Lauren, you really know how to treat your girl,” she says with admiration.

Ally and Dinah peek at the charms as well and show their agreement with Normani’s assessment.

“That’s right, my girl,” Lauren smiles as she glances over at Camila, “officially…” she adds.

“Can we watch a movie now?” Camila requests, wanting to draw attention away from her.

Everyone agrees, parting ways to change into PJs and get snacks together. They draw straws to figure out who gets to pick the movie. Dinah wins and chooses A Walk to Remember, causing the group to groan.

“Oh don’t even front guys. I know we all love this one.”

Nobody attempts to contradict her statement, so they get comfortable as she pops in the DVD for them.

Lauren and Camila take up a couch to themselves. Camila is stretched out, lying down with her head in Lauren’s lap. Lauren feeds Camila popcorn from time to time and Camila thanks her by rubbing circles on her leg, near her thigh. This lessens Lauren’s concentration on the movie as she fails to block out her physical reaction to Camila’s affection. She gets stuck between wanting to feed her more popcorn so the feeling will repeat itself and wanting to spill the bowl so it can’t happen again.

Her lack of investment in the film suddenly becomes apparent to Camila when she’s on the edge of tears from the current scene and Lauren is in such a daze that she doesn’t make any motion to comfort her like a girlfriend would. Lauren can tell when Camila’s gaze shifts to her face and she tries to hide her feelings behind a smile. Camila isn’t satisfied and excuses herself to make more popcorn, waving for Lauren to follow.

“Ooh la la,” Normani teases as she sees the couple leaving one after the other. Ally kicks her lightly and they put their attention back on the movie.

In the kitchen Camila sets the almost-empty bowl of popcorn on the counter then signals for Lauren to join her at the nearby table.

“What’s wrong?” Camila whispers, looking at her best friend (and fake girlfriend) with concern.

“Everything is fine. It’s no big deal. I’m just…adjusting?” Lauren explains, the last part coming off more as a question.

“Did I make you uncomfortable? I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking…”

Lauren raised her hand to cut off the other girl.

“No. It’s not your fault. Maybe I’m just a little on edge about the inevitable publicity we’re about the face. I know I said we’d leave this until tomorrow, but it’s harder than I thought.”

“I hoped the movie would keep your mind off that. Mine too. But I guess that’s not realistic anymore. We’re expected to be cuddly and prefer this closeness most of the time.”

“Yeah, I can’t keep my mind off us…not when we are together like out there,” Lauren confesses.

“This is going to be the tone of the next three months though, isn’t it? We don’t get to take a break from us like I imagined when we first agreed to this. We’re 110% together until we’re not,” Camila realizes.

“Exactly,” Lauren affirms, “this is our truth right now and facing it is our only option. We’re in too deep for walking backwards.”

“I know the majority of this is meant to exist outside our comfort zone, but if I do anything that gets to be too much, please tell me. You still deserve boundaries.”

“So do you. I already feel like a thief, knowing I’m going to steal some firsts from you in this process. Hell, I already have,” Laurens points out, motioning toward Camila’s wrist and the object that sealed the deal on the beginning of her first relationship.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m serious. I doubt I’ll regret any of it. I trust you completely, and this may be the last chance we get to be honest with each other for a while so I want to make sure you know that.”

“I trust you too, Camz. So let’s move forward and take on this challenge together. From now until the album drops, I’ll treat you like you’re mine if you’ll treat me like I’m yours,” Lauren pep talks.

Camila reaches out her hand and they shake on it. They get up from the table and Lauren puts a new bag of popcorn in the microwave so they don’t come back empty handed. Camila smirks mischievously as it’s popping, reaching out and turning Lauren around from her position directly in front of the microwave. She runs her fingers through Lauren’s hair and roughs it up a bit, leaving it in a slight mess.

“What are you doing?” Lauren whisper-yells in confusion.

“Make out hair,” Camila explains, as if it should be obvious. “We’ve been gone like 10 minutes and we just got back from a hot date like an hour ago. What do you think they think we’ve been doing in here?”

Lauren rolls her eyes and retrieves the finished popcorn bag upon the sound of the beep. She finishes pouring it into the bowl from before then responds.

“Okay, but you better start messing your hair up, too. Cause there’s no way you got away from a Jauregui without so much as a mark.”

Camila gives in and they take turns “fixing” each other up before returning to the living room with guilty looking faces to match their staged appearances.


	6. Part VI

Part VI

After much teasing and a second movie, all five girls decided to call it a night. They went to their separate rooms like usual, and their individual routines were executed as if everything were normal. That’s why Camila was surprised when her bedroom door opened around 2 A.M. and Lauren’s figure appeared at the foot of her bed.

“Hey, Camz, are you awake?” Lauren whispered to the still figure before her.

“Hmm,” Camila confirmed lazily.

Lauren apparently took that as an invitation as she slipped under the covers and scooted beside Camila in her bed.

Camila turned over to face the older girl, her vision adjusting to the dark room.

“Why?” Camila mumbles, lacking the energy to form her full question, but Lauren understands.

“I couldn’t fall asleep and this is where I’d be if I had a boyfriend in that scenario.”

“Oh,” Camila replies simply, struggling to stay awake.

“I can tell you’re tired. I can leave if you want?” Lauren offers as she begins to scoot back the way she came from.

Camila shakes her head and reaches out to pull Lauren back towards her, their bodies colliding softly in the process.

“Stay,” she insists, keeping a hold on Lauren so she knows not to pull away again.

“Okay,” Lauren agrees, shifting until she finds a position that’s comfortable.

They exchange good nights, Camila falling asleep almost instantly, and Lauren following suit shortly after Camila’s slowing heartbeat turns into her lullaby.

Birds chirping outside wake them up hours later, once the sun has risen to signal a new morning. Camila is alert first, yawning and stretching, the latter resulting in her palm smacking Lauren in the neck unintentionally.

“Ow,” Lauren moans lightly, opening her eyes to the sight of an apologetic Camila.

“I’m so sorry! I forgot you were here. I’m used to always being alone and…” she stops her explanation when she hears Lauren chuckling at her.

“I’m fine, Camz. Just try to be less violent next time. We don’t need these rumors…” Lauren trails off as she stretches and sits up.

“Speaking of rumors…ugh…maybe I’ll just sleep some more,” Camila threatens, pulling the blanket over her head dramatically. Lauren slowly pulls the blanket back down, forcing Camila back into view right away.

“Hiding under there is not going to make things go away. Today is the day we listen to our fans and determine what the next few months have in store for us.”

Camila surrenders, sitting up beside Lauren and pushing the blanket away from them completely.

“Can we eat breakfast first? I’m starving,” Camila complains, her stomach growling on cue.

Lauren gets up off the bed and Camila follows.

“Should I check if the coast is clear?” Camila questions.

Lauren shakes her head, already half way to the door.

“The girls would think it was odder if we weren’t sneaking into each other’s rooms. They’d do the same in our situation.”

Camila takes her word for it and follows Lauren out to the kitchen where the only other person present so far is Normani.

“Sleep well?” she teases, having seen them exit the same room together.

“Yep,” Lauren states casually while Camila nods in approval and reaches for some cereal.

They sit across from Normani once they have their food ready. They fall into typical conversation with her, discussing how to spend their day off and what they’re looking forward to in the upcoming week. It’s a welcomed piece of familiarity in a sea of change.

They head to Lauren’s room after breakfast, telling the others their plan to scope out what’s being said about their announcement from the previous evening. Ally, Dinah, and Mani all wish them luck, knowing they’re walking into a messy display of what it’s like to have a fandom backing you, and an equal amount of nosy people chasing fame through exclusive stories. Most of what they find isn’t unexpected, but some of it still manages to make each of them uneasy.

“That boy used to tease me at school,” Camila admits, pointing to a particularly nasty tweet that reads: “No surprise there. Always knew you were a stupid dyke.”

Lauren scrolls away from it, leaving the screen paused on a space in the tag search where a line of positive comments are displayed.

“Read these, babe. He’s clearly outnumbered. And a complete idiot who is obviously furious that you’re famous now,” she reasons, hoping Camila won’t take his words to heart, despite her own struggle to handle some of the insults and slurs.

“You’re right. He doesn’t matter. I just hate the memories,” Camila explains.

“We’ll make new, better memories together. How about that?”

“We already have…hello…rising girl band fame status,” Camila jokes, nudging Lauren in the shoulder playfully.

“aka how we got ourselves into this in the first place.”

“It could be worse. You could still be dating Keaton…and they could have made you the token female fourth member of Emblem3.”

“Oh god…don’t even joke about that, Camz.”

Camila easily changes the subject back to them and does a Google search in a new tab so they can see what official blogs and news media is saying about them, too. They are amused by the various headlines that pop up. Most of them alluding to the fact that people had expected something was going on for quite some time. One blog in particular had been bumped to the top of the search from receiving a record number of hits. The person running it was a diehard Harmonizer and they had an impressive timeline of their friendship/relationship, supported by pictures and videos that showcased what they interpreted to be hints of a budding romance. It concluded with a screenshot of Camila’s most recent tweet and a copy of the photo she had uploaded. At the bottom of the page the girl has written “I TOLD YOU SO!” in all caps.  The girls found themselves at a loss for words at first, scanning the post carefully as they looked back at stills from several interviews and performances they recalled from the past couple years.

“I knew we had fans cheering for us to date or whatever but I didn’t realize anyone was this dedicated to it,” Lauren tells Camila after the shock wears off.

“I’ve seen some of this before,” Camila replies honestly, “but it’s definitely crazy to see it all organized together like this.”

“Wait…so, did you like go looking for it?” Laurens interrogates with a raised eyebrow.

“No. I noticed it when I would check on my mentions once in a while. Or when I’d look in our Tumblr tags. I know you saw some of it, too. It’s not like either of us were completely oblivious about this,” Camila defends.

“Yeah. I knew about it. But I never clicked on links to pictures or anything. I definitely didn’t think there would be this much,” Lauren clarifies.

“At least we have all this support. I feel bad that we’re going to let them down later, but it appears we have a dedicated army behind us for now. They’ll probably do all the work tearing apart anyone who talks smack about us,” Camila reasons with amusement.

“I’d be relieved, except there are still going to be the interviews, the meet and greets, and the Q & As for the concerts. If I suddenly see a bunch of people wearing Team Camren t-shirts or whatever they’re gonna come up with…how am I supposed to keep a straight face?”

“That’s kinda the point, Lo. When it comes to us, they’re not looking for anything straight.”


	7. VII

**Part VII**

“I can’t believe they just sprung this on us,” Lauren groans while pacing the dressing room floor.

Camila is sitting in a small recliner with her legs crossed, hugging a large pillow.

“I can,” the younger girl replies, followed with a sigh.

Lauren finally pauses her steps and taps her foot in place instead.

“But this,” Lauren explained while gesturing between herself and Camila, “is supposed to help create buzz about our album which is something all five of us have worked incredibly hard on as a group. How is dragging us through our own separate photo shoot fair to the other girls?”

When finished speaking, she takes a seat on the end of a couch to the left of Camila, leaning back and resting her feet on a coffee table while nervously running her right hand through her hair. Camila looks over at Lauren and nods in understanding. It isn’t until their eyes meet a moment later that Lauren picks up on the younger girl being close to tears.

“I’m sorry,” Camila mumbles as a single tear runs down her left cheek and she wipes it away. She turns away slightly but Lauren reaches over and tugs on her arm to get her attention back towards her.

“Hey, come here,” Lauren insists while patting the spot beside her on the couch. Camila joins her hesitantly and lets her best friend’s arms wrap around her in a comforting hug. When they pull back, Lauren brings her thumb up to Camila’s cheek and helps wipe away some of the moisture that has built up from a few more tears that spilled out during their embrace. Camila breaks their eye contact for a moment and Lauren drops her hands so they are no longer lingering on the sad girl’s face.

“What’s bothering you the most?” Lauren asks quietly, knowing there must be a list in her head with everything they’ve been through lately.

“I feel so selfish right now but it’s all I can think about,” Camila explains softly while opting to stare at her own lap rather than let her eyes meet the other girls’ concerned ones again.

“What is it?” Lauren presses. “You can trust me with anything, you know that,” she adds for good measure.

“I don’t want my first kiss to be in front of the camera,” Camila finally admits as she can hear her own heartbeat speeding up, made easier by the brief silence that follows. She can peg the exact moment when what she’s really asking registers with the green-eyed beauty beside her because it’s only a couple seconds after she finally looks back in her direction again that her facial features alter drastically.

“I know they didn’t say we’re going to kiss but it’s a couples photo shoot and…” Camila begins to justify herself, but Lauren cuts her off.

“Camz…okay. It’s okay. I know. We can…okay. Yeah.” Lauren stumbles in her attempt to form a complete sentence but she didn’t want Camila to feel anymore guilt, so she spoke up before she was ready in hopes it would lessen the anxiety they both felt.

They are interrupted by a knock on the door. Normani barges in and looks at them suspiciously.

“We are supposed to be leaving in like 5 minutes! You’re the only ones not out there. Aren’t you two going to change?” she reminds them.

They both start to blush as they notice each other still wearing their concert clothes. They had been so thrown off by news of the photo shoot that they neglected the purpose of them being in the dressing room.

“We’ll be right out,” Camila agrees as they both shuffle to grab their street clothes and Normani makes a quick exit, shaking her head in obvious disapproval, probably letting her mind run wild about what had them held up.

Camila finishes dressing first and she turns around as Lauren is finishing up buttoning the last couple buttons of her shirt. Lauren is fixing her hair a bit when she notices the pair of eyes on her and she clears her throat.

“We have to be up pretty early to get makeup done for the photo shoot tomorrow most likely. So let’s meet in my room tonight after everyone’s settled in for bed and…yeah,” Lauren suggests, earning a nod from Camila.

Lauren smiles at Camila nervously before reaching for her bag and shoving all her loose stuff into it. Camila copies her anxious bandmate and they leave the venue in a hurry since they know their tardiness has already drawn enough attention to them from Normani’s earlier actions.

Everyone is exhausted from the long day when they return to their house, so other than grabbing snacks and checking up on their individual social media addictions, everything between their concert and bedtime proves uneventful. Dinah is the first to peace out to her room, followed a half hour later by Normani, then eventually Ally who leaves upon receiving a phone call they all figured out by now is always from her boyfriend back home.

“I’m gonna go get ready for bed. See you in a few?” Lauren asks the only other band mate still present.

Camila, who has literally never eaten a banana so slow in her life, gulps another tiny piece down before responding in the affirmative. She watches Lauren disappear down the hall and continues to take miniscule bites of her favorite snack. More than ten minutes have passed and she still has a fourth of the tasty fruit left when her phone buzzes from beside her. Before looking she already knows it’s Lauren.

Lo^2: R U Coming?

She gives up on finishing the food in her hand, no longer having the appetite for it. She chucks it into a nearby trashcan before reaching for her phone again.

Camz: 5 mins. Still in kitchen.

After hitting the ‘send’ button she gets up and heads for her own room. She strips quickly and puts on her favorite pajamas. Then she walks into the bathroom to remove her makeup and brush her teeth. Once again she finds herself procrastinating, cleaning her teeth more thoroughly than any other time in memory. The taste of mint from her toothpaste becomes unbearable by the time she washes her mouth out and finishes putting stuff away.

When she exits her room and enters the hallway again she has a fleeting thought that she wishes her first kiss could have been spontaneous like it was for most people, and not this planned event that has been rattling her nerves for hours. But it’s too late for that now. She has maybe 12 hours at best before getting wrapped up in photo shoot mayhem, and even without sleeping a wink that’s hardly enough time to find and be romanced by a stranger.

Camila pauses when she is at Lauren’s door, working up the courage to just let herself in and get over with it. From inside the room, Lauren is staring at the door and standing stiffly. She hasn’t been able to sit down since she left the living room earlier because she knows no matter how they approach this kiss it’s going to be an awkward situation. Maybe having an audience would have been less pressure she contemplates briefly, and then dismisses the thought. Camila deserved better than that for something she waited this long in her life to experience. Despite the circumstances, she wanted it to be intimate and comfortable for the other girl, and until five minutes ago she hadn’t started doubting her ability to accomplish that.   

Lauren’s thoughts are interrupted by a light rapping on her door. Camila had opted to knock since her brain was rebelling against her repeated instructions to turn the door handle in front of her. Knocking put the next move on someone else, and that someone else was currently opening the door and pulling her inside abruptly.

Camila opened her mouth to speak but forgot her words as she felt her back being pressed into the closed door. Lauren brought her left hand up so it was resting between strands of Camila’s hair and her right hand was placed so it could hold up her chin. Camila gulped as she registered Lauren leaning forward until the space between the older girl’s lips and her earlobe was almost nonexistent.

“Follow my lead,” she whispers, her hot breath making Camila’s skin tingle.

She’s not sure she knows what Lauren means until there’s a quick peck of lips against her own and the other girl has backed up a little and is looking at her expectantly. It’s her turn to make a move, so she reciprocates by leaning forward and letting their lips reconnect, lingering a second longer than the previous kiss. There is almost no hesitation as Lauren connects their lips a third time, applying a pressure that was absent from the previous two. When it’s Camila’s turn again, both their eyes are finally shut and they allow themselves to get lost in it for a minute. There is a longer pause afterward to compensate for the increased length of the kiss, but neither say a word. Lauren’s green eyes meet Camila’s stunned brown ones as the more courageous of the two closes the remaining space between their bodies and changes up how their mouths connect, letting her lips focus their attention on sucking the younger one’s bottom lip. An involuntary moan escapes past Camila’s lips and she tilts her head upwards the best she can while being trapped against the door, successfully breaking their mouth-to-mouth contact out of embarrassment.

“Whoa…” Camila breathes out once her body has relaxed from the tension of the previous activities and Lauren has stepped back a little.

“Yeah…” Lauren replies, her mind still scrambled. She felt things during the kisses that she hadn’t expected to feel, and got carried away as a result. It had obviously been too long since her last lip action, because other than a fear of scaring her best friend away there was nothing stopping her from wanting to make out with her right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be my last update for at least a week since I'm going out of town. I hope it's enough to tide you over. :)


	8. Part VIII

**PART VIII**

 

The girls face opposite directions in Lauren’s bed after they have settled down from their earlier actions. Neither one wants to be the first to initiate any type of physical contact, even if it’s something innocent they’ve done numerous times before like cuddling. It was a silent agreement between them that they would still sleep in the same bed, but both girls were struggling to shut off their minds long enough to fall into peaceful slumber.

 

Inside Camila’s head is a tug-o-war. On the one hand, she is ecstatic that her first kiss (or kisses, rather) were above and beyond expectation. On the other hand, she is left desiring more from someone who will probably never agree.

 

Lauren has the sensation of Camila’s lips on hers running on loop in her memory recall. And that noise Camila made toward the end rings in her ears. She is concerned that she won’t be able to forget these things. She is more concerned that she eventually will forget and want Camila to refresh her memory.

 

When they have managed to sneak a few hours of sleep the alarm goes off in the morning, causing Lauren and Camila to groan almost simultaneously. Their limbs became tangled during the night and they separate themselves groggily to avoid addressing the closeness after their recent moment of new intimacy. Lauren sits up slowly as Camila rubs her eyes to remove the sleep that has built in them. She finds herself watching the younger girl when she moves to stretch, and her stomach knots as she is pulled back to thoughts about soft, inexperienced lips. Lips that she has to remind herself only belong to her in a business sense.

 

Camila feels Lauren watching her but pretends not to notice. She tries to make up an excuse for it, like maybe she is actually looking into space or at the wall. As a distraction she reaches for her phone and finds a couple new messages. One of them is letting her know their call time has been moved back an hour for the photo shoot.  

 

“Now they don’t need us until 8,” she informs the other girl who has since gotten up from the bed and is grabbing a towel to shower.

 

“Oh well, too late to sleep in since I’m already up,” Lauren replies with slight annoyance.

 

“Same,” Camila empathizes.

 

Lauren finishes rummaging through her stuff for some comfortable clothes, knowing she’ll be forced out of whatever she wears before the shoot anyway. She raises an eyebrow at Camila when she sees that she hasn’t budged at all.

 

“Do you mind? I’m about to get naked…” The brunette warns.

 

“Oh,” Camila says with a hint of blush threatening to tint her cheeks. Nudity doesn’t bother her, but she doesn’t trust herself not to sexualize the body in front of her if she lets an image burn into her brain. So she excuses herself to her own room and moves forward with the morning.

 

The day is long and the photo shoot goes pretty much as expected. They get compliments all around on how well they sell their romance through their poses. Only one pose requires them to kiss, but that’s all it takes for Camila to be glad they already kissed while alone. The photographer calls it the money shot, a perfect mix of sweetness and sexiness. At the end of the day, Camila is beyond romantically frustrated, craving most of the contact between her and Lauren that had been staged to be something she could have all the time from someone. Lauren’s frustration is more sexual and she experiences a sense of self-hatred from this realization. It is the first time she is craving for these needs to be fulfilled by a woman.

 

“Congratulations girls,” Simon offers after they have changed into their street clothes and are ready to leave the shoot, “the photographer tells me your love shines through in all the shots. That’s excellent news!”

 

“Thanks,” they each offer in return, not sure what else to say at this point.

“We’re still finalizing the details about a shoot for you and the rest of the girls next week. So don’t worry about being singled out for this one.”

 

“I was worried about that actually,” Lauren admits.

 

“Yeah we don’t want our relationship to isolate our amazing sistas,” Camila adds.

 

“Just leave it to me, girls. You’ll all get due recognition for your music,” Simon promises before dismissing himself to have a meeting with the crew preparing the day’s photos for press release.

 

When they get back home Lauren heads to her room and doesn’t realize Camila is following her until she moves to close the door and a body is in the way.

 

“Sorry to bother you. I know you’re probably sick of doing me favors,” Camila starts, nervous about her next request.

 

“Don’t worry about it. What’s up?” Lauren asks, genuinely intrigued as she collapses on her bed in exhaustion.

 

“Well I guess my parents talked to your parents and they have asked us to all have dinner together on the next day we have off,” Camila explains unenthusiastically.

 

“That doesn’t seem like too big of a deal to me. Our families have had dinner together before,” Lauren reminds her.

 

“But my parents requested this specifically because we’re dating. So who knows what they are planning,” Camila expresses nervously.

 

“It’s not like they’re planning our engagement or something. We’ve been a couple for less than a month and neither of us is eighteen.”

 

“My father was raised with cultural values where dating is uncommon. You either commit to someone or you don’t assign a title or take ownership, so to speak. He knows it’s different here, but he might still be holding on to that attitude a bit. Honestly, besides my complete social awkwardness, it’s one of the reasons I have stayed so inexperienced with relationships this long.”

 

“So in other words he’s going to be more heartbroken about it than you and I when we break up in three months?”

 

Lauren feels an odd pang in her chest at her own mention of their break up, and she swears she catches a glimpse of disappointment in the currently vulnerable girls’ eyes.

 

“Maybe,” Camila replies cautiously, inviting herself onto the bed beside Lauren.

 

“Did you want to be alone tonight?” Camila asks, sensing Lauren isn’t thrilled about having company at the moment.

 

“Quite the opposite,” Lauren mumbles unintentionally, letting her internal thought slip out, leading her to pray that Camila doesn’t catch it.

 

“Opposite…so you really want company…oh,” Camila stumbles into the conclusion as Lauren brings a pillow over her head, faking suffocation.

 

Camila reaches for the pillow and challenges Lauren’s grip enough that she can see half of her face again.

 

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I feel that way too sometimes. But I should definitely leave you alone then so you can take care of…that,” Camila offers casually while she attempts to move off the bed smoothly.

 

Lauren latches a hand around Camila’s wrist and shakes her head.

 

“Stay?”

 

“I’m not into voyeurism,” Camila teases.

 

“I’m not asking you to watch,” Lauren deadpans.


	9. Part IX

**PART IX**

“Lauren?” The older girl’s name falls from Camila’s lips with caution at the suggestiveness of her words.

 

They are now facing each other while lying sideways on Lauren’s bed. Lauren’s eyes are no longer searching for the other pair in the room, her concentration settling on Camila’s arm where she has begun tracing small circles with her index finger.

 

“Hmm?” she mumbles as if she’s too lost in the aforementioned task to be bothered forming a full thought or sentence.

 

“I really think I should sleep in my room,” Camila declares reluctantly.

 

Lauren pauses the motion of her finger, but leaves the tip of it touching Camila’s skin. She doesn’t immediately respond, internally weighing the consequences of begging her to stay again. They need the space but she doesn’t want it.  

 

“Okay,” she finally agrees and moves her hand away from the body that has been keeping the other half of her bed warm the last few nights.

 

Despite coming to an agreement, Camila doesn’t move right away. The lingering silence is eventually interrupted by a low rumble coming from Camila’s stomach, reminding her and Lauren that neither has eaten much all day.

 

“Sounds like snack time,” an amused Lauren whispers.

 

“Race you to the fridge!” Camila challenges, jumping out of the bed and easily gaining a head start while also successfully taking their mind off the tension building between them.

 

 

The next few days are so hectic that it’s not even suspicious when the girls fall asleep in separate places out of exhaustion. Other than holding hands while traveling between rooms or buildings, traces of their relationship begin to dwindle. So they’re definitely not surprised when they get called into another meeting with Simon.

 

“I know your schedule has been booked this week, but the buzz on you two needs to keep getting fed. I’ve worked something out to fix that on my part. It will require effort on yours though as well,” Simon explains briefly once they have settled into his office.

 

“The photographer I had you work with keeps a blog online and I have arranged for him to offer a preview of your shoot. I need you to meet with his close friend who conducts the interviews that often accompany his work. I know it is short notice but I have asked him to meet with you during the two hour buffer you have this afternoon. It is incredibly important that your answers match the sincerity captured in the photographs.”  

 

The girls nod in understanding.

 

“Now that we have that out of the way, I do need to address my other concerns. First, you as individuals have been a scarce presence on social media since the announcement. Not everything you say should be about your relationship. Just update more often. Second, I want you to draw more attention to yourselves for the press and for the fans. This could require more public displays of affection or some type of scandal. It’s at your discretion. Whatever produces results?”

 

“I’ll admit we cooled down this week, but hasn’t our overall PDA been enough? We hold hands all the time. We sit beside each other everywhere we go. We get into poke wars during our short breaks. We kissed for the photo shoot. What else is there?” Lauren presses for an answer.

 

“Squeeze in some public dates. Get caught in a compromising position intentionally. Do something that will encourage one of the other girls to tweet about you and use the hashtag. Your performance has been acceptable so far, but you need to kick it up a notch so it reaches a broader audience,” Simon concludes.

“Lauren and I can figure it out,” Camila asserts.

 

“Yeah we will talk about it,” Lauren agrees, “but what about this interview later? Do you know what type of questions to expect?”

 

“I’ve seen a rough list. I trust in your ability to answer the questions. Anything I didn’t particularly like they went ahead and crossed out,” Simon assures them.

 

They wrap up their meeting with a summary of their feelings on the group dynamics since their relationship was revealed which so far has seemed unaffected in terms of their performance. Once they are dismissed they return to work until their break time hits and the interviewer pulls them aside as promised. They shake hands, exchange pleasantries, and get comfortable on some couches in one of the lounges apart from the rest of the group.

 

“Thank you girls for agreeing to meet with me today. I’m James. My partner and I are ecstatic that you have chosen us to be the first source for details on your new relationship. I’ve seen the photographs he took and the two of you are absolutely stunning.”

 

Camila smiles and Lauren nods before thanking him politely.

 

“I’ll go ahead and start with a couple questions to get the conversation flowing. I plan to record everything so I can be 100% accurate when quoting each of you. If anything particular comes up that you want to request be omitted from the record, please discuss it with me at the end,” James explains briefly before taking out his pen and a notepad to scribble on as well.

 

“Do you have any questions for me before we begin?”

 

Camila and Lauren shake their heads and allow the interview to move forward.

 

“First of all, as your original fans know, the two of you actually come from the same city but hadn’t met before your auditions for The X Factor. Can you tell me a little bit about your first impressions and how the two of you initially became friends?”

 

Lauren gestures to Camila, indicating she wants her to answer first.

 

“I heard Lauren before I saw her the first time. There were these booths set up and that’s where everyone in line gets their opportunity to sing for the producers. It goes very quickly since they have to get through so many people, but as soon as I heard her belt out a line I was nervous. If that’s what I was competing against, I already didn’t think I stood a chance. Then she came out of the booth, I saw how pretty she was, and that made me even more nervous. She smiled at me the first time we made eye contact, but I was worried she would hear me sing and decide she wanted nothing to do with me after comparing our voices.”

 

“I could tell Camila was shy in the beginning. Her being nervous was obvious, too, but everyone there was feeling the same way. Once we were officially introduced to each other we instantly clicked though. We discovered so many similarities like our age, where we were from, and our family background. Boot camp is where we became close despite the very realistic possibility that only one or neither of us would move on in the competition. I think in a way it was a comfort to have her there because I knew even if we both left disappointed that we would stay in touch back home and share the memories. Maybe even help each other improve and practice for the next year’s audition or some other competition since I believed the potential was there for her and for me after the feedback we received.”   

 

“The two of you had a lot of adjusting to do, I imagine, after learning you would be in a group together. Were you as close to any of the other girls as you were to each other at that point?”

 

“I was definitely closest to Camila. I knew the other girls were there, but we didn’t interact nearly as much prior to being invited to the Judge’s house. It didn’t matter later on because for the most part the experience of becoming a group and learning to work off each other’s strengths and weaknesses made us all close. We’re like a family now and I value my friendship with Ally, Dinah, and Normani just as much as the relationship between me and Camila even though our love is a little different.”

 

“I’d say it’s pretty much the same way for me. I got to know Lauren more at first, but it didn’t hold me back from becoming close to the rest of our group. I couldn’t imagine going through this without one of them.”  

 

“Did either one of you always have a crush on the other, or at what point did you begin to see a shift in your friendship to something more romantic like you’re exploring now? Did either of you confide in one of your bandmates about your feelings before discussing it with one another? Have they all been supportive of the change since the announcement?”

 

“I had a crush on Lauren from pretty early on,” Camila begins to admit without missing a beat, “but I didn’t make it too obvious, I think. Dinah was the first to know about it since it kinda just slipped out when I wasn’t planning on saying anything. We told all three bandmates about us dating before the fans knew and they enjoy teasing us about it.”

 

There is a pause in the conversation caused by Lauren’s delay in response. Camila lied so quickly and easily about having a crush on her that she was beginning to wonder if it was true.

 

“What about you, Lauren?” James presses, drawing her attention back into the interview.

 

Camila grabs her hand and squeezes gently, hoping it will be encouraging to the previously zoned out girl beside her.

 

“I wasn’t as confident in my feelings as Camila. I very much regarded her as one of my best friends faster than I expected. I suppose that should have been the first sign that it wasn’t completely platonic for me because when I love someone, I love hard. Although I’m embarrassed about it, the reason I had my doubts was from us being the same sex. Our first date is what opened my eyes. We didn’t plan it as one, or at least I didn’t,” Lauren confessed, nudging Camila.

“Tell me more about that first date,” James insists, looking toward Camila.

 

“Um well…it was back in Miami. Usually we as a group have this rule where we don’t contact each other while on breaks with family since we are together almost constantly for weeks at a time. I broke the rule and called Lauren since I was admittedly having withdrawals. She obviously broke the rule too since she picked up. Anyway, I paid for us to have lunch at her favorite restaurant and she paid for our movie tickets afterward. We went down to the beach after the movie since that’s one of our favorite places to be when we’re home, and I kinda made a move by reaching out and holding her hand as we were walking.”

 

“It was around sunset, so that added to the romantic vibe of it. I remember coming to this realization that I wouldn’t mind if we held hands all the time, and that’s when it clicked that maybe we could be more than friends. Before going home that night, I kissed her on the cheek and asked if she wanted to get together again before we met back up for touring. She responded with an ‘okay, it’s a date’ and eventually that’s what we decided we were doing, dating.”

 

“Who were you most concerned about opening up to when you decided to share your relationship status? Your management, your families, or your fans?”

 

“For me it was definitely family. They have loved and supported me through everything. If they didn’t support me through this, having my first girlfriend, I would have been an emotional wreck for sure,” Lauren divulges.

 

“I worried about fans more than the other two. This is my first relationship and it’s challenging letting something that I always thought would be very personal become something so public. Luckily we have been kept busy touring and finalizing the details for our album release, so I don’t have enough down time to obsess over what people are saying about us.”

 

“I noticed it was hard to fit this interview into your schedule. As you mentioned, there’s a lot going on for you now with your music. How has this affected your new relationship so far?”

 

“Most of the time Lauren and I spend together is while we are working. When we have longer breaks from work, family comes first. When we have shorter breaks and are staying with the girls, ideally we all set some time aside to hang out together since it’s a lot of fun and we’re all good friends. So I would say we probably get a lot less one-on-one time than most couples right now. But I know Lauren is here to support me and vice versa. We still get to have our moments here and there.”

 

“I agree with Camz. Music is currently a priority for us and that does mean we get less time to do stuff alone. I think it works out though because we can fall back into being ourselves so easily when those few moments do come along. We keep each other sane, and on top of that we have such a solid support system behind us. Honestly, relationships are probably even more difficult for the other girls right now. At least I know I’ll see my girlfriend pretty much every day even if all we do is work. The other girls have to leave their boyfriends behind just like we all do with our family while we’re on the road, so they’re lucky if they get to call and talk to them on the phone regularly or see them when we happen to have a show near home. Distance is a test not many relationships pass in the long run.”

 

“What do you think of the #Camren shippers? I’ve seen many comments from fans who seem almost as invested in your love life as they should be in their own. Is that strange for you now? What about before you were dating?”

 

“I love all the fans. I would never want to take a single one for granted because many of them were the ones voting for us during The X Factor, the reason we made it to third place and proved we have a place in the industry. But I will be perfectly honest and admit I’m not too crazy about the tag. When I first learned about it I was uncomfortable because it is weird when your closeness to someone is captured in all these pictures or film, and even weirder when it’s twisted to mean something different than your own experience as the person being analyzed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s flattering that fans care and want us to be happy. I understand that people will talk about us now because that’s part of being in the spotlight. It just bothered me before we dated because some people were aggressive about proving Camren to be real and putting pressure on us to come out, which I think is inappropriate to do whether someone is a celebrity or not. I’m not some fictional character you can project your fantasies on. I’m a real human being with real feelings and I shouldn’t have to defend what I know I feel against what other people want me to feel regardless of the reason,” Lauren rants, baring her true emotions on the matter.

 

“I understand Lauren’s point-of-view and agree about the more aggressive shippers who would take it upon themselves to insist we had to be an item. However, I have noticed many Harmonizers who support the relationship in a more respectful way. I’ll admit I’ve seen some fanart and fan videos, and even when we were just friends I thought it was really sweet that our fans took the time to highlight some of our best memories together performing or interviewing. It’s clear that this is an important outlet for some of our fans who may not know of other ways to cope with what’s troubling them in reality right now, and I can definitely relate to that. Needing to have that hope in something or a distraction from yourself. I’ll probably regret admitting this later, but Demi and Selena were mine. Their friendship inspired me, was an example of a closeness I aspired to have with someone, one I didn’t find until I met Lauren.”

 

Lauren felt her heart melt at Camila’s confession. She subconsciously begins stroking the outside of Camila’s hand which hadn’t left hers since the younger girl initiated the contact earlier. The action doesn’t go unnoticed by James who is smiling at them warmly.

 

“Alright, just a few more questions then we’ll have to wrap up. Thank you again for meeting with me and opening up so honestly. This has truly been a pleasure, ladies.”

 

The last few questions mostly focus on their music. Other than joking about writing a love song together as a bonus track for the album, very little else is disclosed about their romance. However, both girls find themselves thankful for the interview, having managed to learn new things about each other that they aren’t sure would have come up in any other context. For Lauren especially, it demonstrated her ability to love Camila more, which she didn’t think was possible before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find myself slightly disappointed by the minimal presence of the other three girls in this story so far. What do you think? Can I throw in some more friendship time, or would you interpret it too much as filler? I have a few ideas I'm throwing around right now. Thanks again to everyone who is reading.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I would like to thank everyone who is reading this story, and especially the few people who have commented on it as well. It is always fun to write this one and if I had no other responsibilities it would definitely be updated all the time. Unfortunately, the only time I can usually buckle down and get writing done is during late hours (mostly on work nights) when being awake is irresponsible. It's frustrating for me, too. So we can be annoyed between updates together! :)

**Part X**

The girls are back to staying in a hotel that night because they have three days of shows and appearances nearby. They unload their bare necessities after finishing their work for the day and eat dinner through room service as a group. When they have cleaned up and settled in, Lauren pulls Camila aside.

 

“Hey babe, do you have a moment to talk?” Lauren asks casually, gesturing to the room within the suite that they’ll be sharing that night.

 

Camila looks at her girlfriend apologetically.

 

“I actually made plans with Dinah,” she explains, pointing further down the hall to the room the youngest band mate will be sharing with Normani.

 

“Oh okay,” Lauren replies, trying to hide her disappointment, “I guess we can just talk later then?”

 

“You’ll have me all night,” Camila confirms before kissing Lauren on the cheek and heading down the hallway, missing how flustered she left the older girl.

 

However, it doesn’t get passed Normani who happens to be headed to the mini fridge to fetch bottled water after Camila greets Dinah in their room.

 

“Mila sure got you worked up, huh,” Normani teases, offering water to Lauren as well, but she declines. Normani shrugs and motions for Lauren to join her in the common space. They sit on opposite ends of a bright orange love seat that’s beside a coffee table with a fruit basket and bowls of various crackers.

 

“Can I be real with you for a moment,” Lauren almost whispers, looking around to make sure they are still alone.

 

“A’ight,” Normani agrees, noticing the typically confident girl in front of her looks uncharacteristically troubled.

 

“I think I’m in love with Camila,” she confesses, shifting uncomfortably as she realizes it’s the first time she’s voicing the possibility out loud.

 

Normani is concerned, but also a bit confused, about how nervous Lauren seems.

 

“Color me crazy, but I think she might dig you just a little bit, too,” Normani jokes, attempting to lighten the mood.

 

“Yeah, yeah. I know. She’s my girlfriend but…is this too soon? What if everything gets to be too much and we have to decide between the music or each other? Will we still be the friends we used to be?”

 

“I don’t think it’s too soon. You’ve been attached at the hip since I met you two. Heck, it’s only been like three weeks since you guys came out but you’ve been acting like girlfriends for as long as I can remember. When you talk about how it used to be I’m not even sure I know what you mean because the only difference I see between then and now is that you’re no longer denying your feelings,” Normani points out, sharing her honest assessment of the closeness between the two Floridians.   

 

Lauren can’t immediately respond, the perspective of an outsider who also happens to be one of her closest friends hitting her like a ton of bricks. Normani doesn’t know it was staged so she couldn’t have anticipated the effect her honesty would have on one half of the new power couple. Nobody was questioning the authenticity of their relationship now because their friendship is what seemed suspicious all along.

 

“I didn’t notice,” Lauren manages to say after a comfortable silence had settled between them.

 

“That’s what I’m here for…why do you think the other girls and I teased yall so much? It was the best we could do to call attention to it without being disqualified from the bets we all had going.”

 

“Bets?” Lauren inquired with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Girl please, we had wagers in by the time the EP dropped,” Normani admitted, chuckling lightly.

 

Lauren begins to think she should have hung out with Normani one-on-one much sooner, intrigued by all the information she was spilling at once.

 

Meanwhile, Camila and Dinah are taking turns picking YouTube videos and imitating dance moves, poorly in Camila’s case.

 

“Ugh, how do you make this look so easy,” Camila complains, letting her arms fall to her side as she pauses her attempt to do the ‘Single Ladies’ dance.

 

“Girl, that dance wasn’t even meant for you. You’re far from a single lady now,” Dinah reminds her.

 

Camila rolls her eyes.

 

“Neither is Bey,” she points out, as if her obsessed companion needed the reminder.

 

Dinah pats the space on the bed beside her and Camila joins her, lying on her stomach with her elbows propping her up.

 

“Real talk though, how are things with the bae?”

 

“Can we please talk about…I don’t know…anything else?” Camila pleads.

“Lauren’s that bad in bed huh,” Dinah quips, earning a hard shove that almost causes her to tumble off the bed.

 

“Whoa girl, use your words!” She adds, fixing her balance.

 

“Yeah, sure, let me know if you see a dictionary anywhere. Preferably hardcover,” Camila challenges.

 

“Alright I get it, touchy subject,” Dinah surrenders.

 

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Camila finally confides.

 

“What do you mean? Are you and Lauren having doubts? You sure do put up a pretty good front if you are.”

 

“I’m not. I know how I feel about her. I just can’t shake this feeling that Lauren is gonna be filled with regret about this someday.”

 

“Mila, the girl would literally have to be hit upside the head with a 2 by 4 to become stupid enough to regret what the two of you have,” Dinah insists.

 

Camila takes a moment to ponder the younger diva’s words and decides she makes a really good point. Worst comes to worst, Lauren may put distance between them for a while, but she would never be able to cut Camila off completely. Even if there does come a time when Camila decides to come clean about the crush she definitely had on Lauren before any of this happened, and not during an interview where most of their answers are embellished and the truth blends in.

 

“You’re right. We’ve been through so much. This is a beautiful beginning so I should stop treating it like a freight train approaching an inevitable collision.”

 

“Have you seen the way your girl looks at you? If she wasn’t so on point with her harmonies I’d say you’re the only one in the room she notices half the time.”

 

“Really?” Camila wonders aloud, trying to think back on the few times she has caught Lauren staring but written it off as coincidence.

 

“If you googled ‘obvious’ it would probably ask ‘did you mean: Lauren Michelle Jauregui.”

 

Camila smiles as she nudges Dinah gently.

 

“You are ridiculous,” Camila declares.

 

“Oh hush, you know you love me,” Dinah reminds her.

 

“Don’t tell Lauren.”

 

“What shouldn’t she tell me?” A familiar voice cuts in as Lauren and Normani enter the room and interrupt the heart-to-heart.

 

“Don’t worry, she was only trying to cover up that she confessed her undying love for me,” Dinah replies with no hesitation.

 

“Seriously, D.J., I let you have one night with my girl and you use it to lay down the moves,” Lauren says in an accusatory tone.

 

“You can have her back, her moves need some serious work,” Dinah chuckles out, recalling their dance marathon.

 

“I came out to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now,” Camila kids, feigning offense.

 

Lauren extends a hand out, prompting for Camila to grab it so she can help her up off the bed.

 

“I think your bed time has come and gone, Camz,” Lauren directs at her girlfriend who she caught attempting to suppress a yawn after being brought back to her feet.

 

“I think you just want me all to yourself,” Camila asserts.

 

Lauren catches her off guard by connecting their lips together briefly and tugging her towards the door.

 

“That’s precisely what I want,” she confirms before leading them the rest of the way into the hallway and down to their temporary room.


	11. Chapter 11

Part XI

The girls underestimated how tired they were and fell asleep shortly after crawling into bed together, despite the original intention by Lauren to have an important chat with Camila. They had a semi-decent call time for once and were grateful for the extra couple hours of sleep. Unfortunately, Lauren had somehow managed to adjust to the earlier call times lately and found herself wide awake long before the alarm was set to sound off. This would be less of a problem if her body wasn’t trapped by the embrace of another’s warm presence. Most awkward of all being the placement of the younger girl’s right hand which had shamelessly attached itself to her breast. 

Seconds turned to minutes as Lauren lie awake staring ahead at the hotel wall, not having enough mobility to observe much else with the way Camila’s spooning held her in place. She allowed herself to focus on the physical feeling of contentment rather than the complications floating in her mind. This was something she knew better than to get used to, but she couldn’t lie to herself and say the contact is unwanted. It’s the most relaxed she has felt in months. 

When her so-far peaceful companion finally begins to stir she tries to stay still and keep her breathing slow. It works briefly until she can sense Camila’s eyes opening behind her. The younger girl is in a daze of sleep and fails to make note of the position of her hand, leaving it where Lauren couldn’t forget about it if she tried. A brief, yet effective yawn is what ends up giving Lauren away. 

“Lo Lo?” Camila whispers affectionately.

“Yeah Camz?” Lauren offers back, taking care to still limit her movement. 

“Just checking,” Camila explains softly while shifting slightly to adjust her leg. 

“Generally it’s considered polite to check someone is conscious before you cop a feel,” Lauren instructs, turning her head slightly so Camila can see her gaze down toward where their hand and chest have met. 

She watches in amusement as Camila’s eye widen in embarrassment, and she regrets teasing her about it so soon when she feels an immediate loss of contact from the younger girl pulling away. 

“I’m so..sorry. I di..didn’t…” Camila stutters, repositioning herself so she is lying on her back and there’s a small space between them. 

When she feels brave enough to look in Lauren’s direction again, she catches a smirk on her face and swats at the older girl instinctively at the realization that her intention had been to mess with her all along. 

Lauren rubs her shoulder where Camila’s hand made the briefest and lightest of contact. 

“That hand can’t make up its mind. First it shows me love, now hate. I guess I’ll have to go directly to the source to get an explanation.” 

“You know I love you,” Camila insists with a hint of affection in her eyes. 

Lauren takes advantage of the moment to confess the same, hoping the context will mask how deeply she means it. 

“I love you, too, Camz,” she whispers, tilting her head so it rests against her pillow while still facing her girlfriend who has a grand canyon-sized grin on her face. 

Lauren notes the exaggerated rise in happiness from Camila and can’t help but wonder if it’s a hint that it’s something the other girl has wanted to genuinely hear from her, too. It’s not like they haven’t expressed love before, but they also weren’t ‘together’ when they said it in the past. She knows what she wants it to mean now.   
“Why do you look like One Direction just asked us to do a collab?” 

Camila lets her grin rest slightly as she rolls onto her side to face Lauren.

“Do you ever have one of those moments in real life that imitates something you once could only imagine?” 

The entire X Factor experience comes to mind, but Lauren holds back on pointing it out to keep the moment serious, resorting to nodding her head to acknowledge her understanding. 

“That’s what you have given me. I don’t want you to think I have the wrong idea or anything, but when you say ‘I love you,’ I don’t have to question your motive or your honesty. I know you never sugarcoat anything and most of all that you wouldn’t say something so meaningful if it weren’t true. I’ve only recently learned to love myself so I didn’t know what to expect when it comes to being loved by someone else. You’ve shown me this and I can’t think of a better feeling,” Camila reveals, laying her true emotions out in the open. 

Lauren scoots herself forward, planting a kiss on Camila’s forehead before embracing her in a hug. They don’t pull back completely afterward, both wanting to keep some of the contact. They have just enough space between them for Lauren to reach up and tuck a strand of hair behind Camila’s ear as they both smile and hold eye contact. 

“In the spirit of honestly…” Lauren begins to summon the courage to open up to Camila, but gets interrupted by their alarm finally going off. They both groan at the reminder that they are on a time limit and have to begin the day eventually. It forces them to put more distance between them so Lauren can reach the alarm and shut it off. However, to Camila’s surprise, she comes right back to their earlier position and halts the younger girl from making an exit. 

“I want to finish talking,” Lauren explains, worried she’ll lose her nerve if she has to start the conversation over later.

“Okay. Can we take a selfie first?” Camila requests, throwing Lauren off. 

“What? A selfie? Now?” 

“If we don’t post something soon they’re probably going to hire paparazzi intentionally to get us more publicized and scandalized. So far the ball is in our court, let’s keep it there,” Camila reasons.

“Where are we doing this? We both look a mess…”

“Right here,” Camila tells her, reaching for her phone on the bedside table. 

“Camila,” Lauren cautions, using her full first name for emphasis, “we can’t post a picture of us in bed together.” 

“If we don’t create a scandal, they will, and I can guarantee you whatever they come up with will be much worse. Our clothes are on, you kiss my cheek, I snap a picture. Then we can go back to forgetting that this started as a publicity stunt,” Camila explains, pleading.

Started as…Lauren gets stuck for a minute on the phrasing. Started as…it implies that it began one way and then changed. Started as…all the encouragement she needs to go through with the new picture and return to what she has waited too long to say. 

“Alright, let’s do this.”

They pose for the picture, try a couple different angles, and decide on which one to post. They decide it will go to Lauren’s Instagram this time and once it forwards to a tweet Camila instantly retweets it, knowing it will reach more people that way since her follower count is higher. 

Camila snickers as she is putting her phone down. 

“What’s so funny?”

“I tagged our selfie #thebestpartofwakingup.” 

Lauren rolls her eyes, but still smiles despite efforts to contain it.

“If we get ‘volunteered’ to do a Folgers commercial next week, I’m sicking Dinah on you.” 

Having impeccable timing, the aforementioned Fifth Harmony member knocks on their door and shouts at them.

“We have like a half hour before call time, love birds. So get decent and get outta there,” Dinah commands, taking them back out of their own little world again. 

Lauren instantly feels rushed. The frequency of disruptions is starting to give her doubts about the universe wanting Camila to know she sees more than friendship with her. She doesn’t think she can handle the opportunity coming and going, slipping by again.

“Camila,” Lauren mumbles, successfully getting her attention back away from the door where she had been staring after the announcement from Dinah.

“Lauren,” Camila confirms, giving her full attention to the woman requesting it. 

“I know you didn’t choose to be my girlfriend and vice versa. I know we were both asked to fake it and that’s what you and I have been doing so far. But I wanted to let you know that I can’t pretend anymore,” Lauren announces, a deep breath quickly following as she anticipates the reaction. 

Camila looks disappointed and Lauren can feel herself begin to sweat.

“How do you expect to just get up and walk away from this? We posted a romantic selfie like five minutes ago. Simon was ready to end our careers after this album if we didn’t help the promotion. Our family, our friends, our fans…” Camila is cut off from her rant by an unexpected assault on her lips. 

The kiss is short-lived because Camila is too confused to kiss back. Lauren can tell she is tense as well and pulls back far enough to give her adequate space in case that’s what she needs. The quizzical expression she’s wearing afterward is expected, so Lauren finishes her confession with clearer words.

“Camz, I’m not going to stop pretending because I am trying to end the publicity stunt. I’m not pretending anymore because I don’t have to…I actually like you.” 

Lauren can’t remember a time when she has felt more vulnerable. Guys used to make the first move and ask her out. This is the first time that she is taking the first step, and there hasn’t been a time other than auditioning or performing for the judges on The X Factor when she has been this overwhelmed. 

“Is this real life?” Camila wonders aloud, just loud enough for Lauren to hear. 

“I thought I just heard you tell me that you like me,” Camila elaborates, obviously perplexed. 

Lauren reaches out to take one of her hands and looks at her intently.

“I care about you, so much. And I’m making up excuses to kiss you again in my mind all the time. It’s becoming frustrating to call you my girlfriend when I don’t know if that title is something you really want from me.”

Lauren sees a tear forming in Camila’s eye and she begins to experience guilt at spring all this information on her best friend at once. 

“If it’s not what you want, then that’s all right, too,” Lauren clarifies.

Camila shakes her head and leans in to plant a subtle kiss against the now-familiar lips, the only ones she has been allowed to explore.

“Lauren Jauregui, I think you’re exactly the girl I’ve been waiting for all along.”


	12. Chapter 12

Part XII 

It’s the day before their two day break, and Dinah searches for Lauren and Camila backstage. They have a Q & A session before the concert and they are running behind schedule. The two of them had disappeared after wardrobe finished up their outfits. When she finally spots them, she is not the least bit surprised to see them engaged in a passionate lip lock, Lauren trapped against the wall with Camila pressed into her. 

“This is the third time I’ve had to see you two make out this week. I know I’m captain of your ship and all, but we’ve really gotta stop meeting like this,” Dinah explains, letting her presence be known. 

She watches them pull apart, Lauren shifting her clothing to compose herself and Camila glancing over at the third wheel apologetically. 

“Are we late?” Camila asks, panic suddenly overcoming her. 

“Yeah the fans have been waiting for a few minutes and you know how strict the schedule can be. We’ve gotta split,” Dinah encourages, leading the way out of the hall and around to the other part of the building where they have a meeting space just outside the room where fans are seated. Ally and Normani start to walk out onto the stage the second they see Dinah has the two stragglers in tow, knowing they’ve already cheated at least one fan out of their question by taking so long to get out there. 

They go through the motions of listening to the applause and introducing themselves before opening up the floor for questions. Their manager is in the audience, prepared to filter out any questions she deems inappropriate for them to answer. 

The first question was tame, requesting for them to name their favorite song on the upcoming album and explain why. The second question was similarly casual, asking them to describe their favorite gift from a fan. The third question didn’t let them off the hook as much. 

“Lauren, I have a screenshot of you stating on Tumblr that you are not a lesbian. When did you change your mind?” 

Lauren sighs and quickly looks over to her girlfriend, accepting the silent support she knew she would find in Camila’s eyes. 

“Lesbian is a very specific term. I completely respect anyone who does identify as a lesbian based on their attraction to the same sex, but it doesn’t jive for me personally. I was very much attracted to the boys I dated in the past. I think it is improper to assign somebody else a label for their sexual orientation, especially when it’s based solely on their current partner. It contributes to the erasure of bisexuality which is an issue close to my heart because that is the way my girlfriend has come to understand her sexuality. I believe it’s best when we allow everyone to speak for themselves.” 

Satisfied with her response, Lauren allowed the session to move forward.

“If Camren breaks up will the band break up?”

Camila decides to address the next question to give Lauren a break.

“No, Lauren and I considered that before we agreed to a relationship in the first place. As much as we wanted to follow our feelings, if we really thought we couldn’t handle the possibility of it not working out without affecting the whole group, then we would have put it on pause. The five of us have been blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime. Neither of us would want our personal lives to interfere with the hard work everyone has put into the upcoming record.”

The fans went back to asking questions directed at the group, much to the relief of the couple. It wasn’t until the final question of the evening that they were put back into the spotlight. 

“This is directed at Lauren or Camila. Do you worry about being a bad influence on your younger fans?”

“No,” Lauren answers flatly, disinterested in explaining herself this time.

“If you’re referring to our relationship, then I agree with Lauren. I remember what it was like when I was slightly younger, before Fifth Harmony, and still struggling with my sexual identity. I would search for reflections of my experience in the media and it was a source of strength for me when I witnessed someone in a relationship with a partner of the same sex. It’s how I knew I wasn’t alone and that there were people out there who could relate to me,” Camila confesses. 

They wrapped up the Q & A session swiftly and carried on with their preparation for the show coming up later on. The Cabellos and the Jaureguis were both present in the audience since this stretch of their tour was scheduled to wrap up in Miami. Normally this would be exciting for the girls, but they also feel nervous since they know their families plan to meet up for dinner the next evening. It has been so long since Camila brought it up that Lauren almost let it slip her mind completely until they arrived in their home state that morning. 

After the show, the girls finish changing and packing up together back stage. Normani, Ally, and Dinah Jane get ready to go to their hotel room by the airport where they will catch flights back home tomorrow. They leave ahead of the other two because they have to get back on the tour bus to be shuttled over there. When the other girls have left, Lauren and Camila make one more sweep of the room to check for their belongings then meet up by the door. 

“It just occurred to me that we won’t be sleeping together tonight,” Lauren pouts, grabbing both of her girlfriend’s hands to pull her closer. 

“Or tomorrow night,” Camila reminds her with a frown, “but at least we can see each other during the day without all the usual tour commitments.” 

“I don’t know if I can see you again before the dinner though,” Lauren explains.  
“Yeah, I understand. My family wants me to themselves for a while, too. It feels good to be home again. I just wish we could have two breaks, one for family and one for us,” Camila admits. 

“Me too,” Lauren agrees before closing the gap between them and placing a gentle kiss against her girlfriend’s lips. She tries to cut them off early, aware of their tendency to get carried away, but Camila pulls her back into it, rougher this time. 

“Camz,” Lauren mumbles against Camila’s lips when there’s a pause, “we can’t.” 

It’s Camila’s turn to pout although she knows her girlfriend is right. Their families will probably come searching for them any minute if they don’t go outside on their own accord. They create space between them as they retrieve their bags from the floor and prepare to head out. 

“I am going to miss you,” Camila mentions casually as Lauren is reaching for the handle of their dressing room. 

“I know,” Lauren replies, pairing it will a small upward tug of her lips, hinting at a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. 

They part ways shortly after and reunite with their families as planned. A few hours later they are both in bed, texting back and forth until Camila’s ringtone sounds off so she brings the phone up to her ear to answer it. 

“Lo Lo?” she asks, although it’s pointless since she already knows who is on the other line.

“Sorry. I know it’s late and we have to be quiet. I just didn’t think I could fall asleep without hearing your voice.” 

“Do I need to make a recording in case we get separated for a longer period of time?” Camila teases. 

“Nah, if a recording was enough I could have played one of our songs as my lullaby,” Lauren comes back cleverly. 

“Touché.” 

Lauren suddenly shifts the topic of conversation to what has really been eating at her. 

“I don’t know how to feel about dinner tomorrow.”

“Me neither, to be honest. When my parents first brought it up we weren’t really dating and I was more worried about our families coming together over something that wasn’t designed to last. I didn’t want them getting attached to the idea then becoming disappointed later.” 

“It’s a different story now that we’re giving this a real shot, huh?”  
“I guess we should feel relieved. We don’t have to lie to them as much,” Camila reasons. 

“Maybe they won’t even focus on us. They could get sidetracked on a conversation about other things, like the weather or sports,” Lauren suggests with a hopeful tone to her voice. 

“Whatever version helps you sleep,” Camila offers. 

They continue their conversation for a while until Lauren is greeted with silence apart from the faint sound of slow breathing on the other end, indicating that her conversation partner has fallen asleep. She sets her phone on speaker as she gets comfortable and focuses on the calming feeling of listening to her girlfriend’s relaxed form through the phone. She closes her eyes and imagines Camila is lying beside her like she was for several previous nights. The memory has the desired effect, allowing her to fall into a deep slumber.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The roman numerals are cramping my style, so I’m just going to start calling them chapters. Please let me know if you’re still reading and feel free to leave suggestions.

Chapter 13

 

Camila and Lauren both wake up in their separate bedrooms with dead phones, their failure to disconnect the call the night before having since drained their batteries. Camila wakes up first because Sofi barges into her bedroom and tugs the covers off her older sister excitedly. She follows it up by jumping onto the bed and wrapping her arms around the sleepy teenager to the best of her ability, considering the size difference.

 

“Sofi, it’s early,” Camila grumbles, still exhausted from the tour and talking to Lauren so late on top of that.  

 

“Mama said to wake you up. She made banana pancakes,” Sofi exclaims, grinning from ear to ear.

 

Camila decides Sofi is way too cute to stay mad at her, especially when she came to offer one of her favorite breakfast foods of all time.

 

“Okay. Go tell mama I’ll be ready in a minute,” Camila requests, giving Sofi one last squeeze to show her appreciation.

 

The pint-sized Cabello hops back off the bed and exits the bedroom, taking off down the hall and toward the kitchen in a sprint. Meanwhile, Camila removes her phone from the lump it caused underneath her from rolling over on top of it in her sleep and gets up to find her charger. It turns back on once it is plugged in, giving her the opportunity to check her texts. There are none from Lauren and she figures it’s because the luckier of the two has managed to sleep in. She decides to shoot her a quick greeting before eating breakfast.

 

To: Lauren

From: Camila

 

“Morning, beautiful. I hope you don’t plan on doing to my heart what you did to my phone last night. Poor thing got shut down. Tell your family I’m looking forward to seeing them at dinner tonight! Do you think Taylor or Chris are coming? Let me know what you find out. <3”

 

Camila sent the text then left her phone behind in her bedroom to continue charging, her stomach growling with hunger and motivating her to fulfill its call to seek nourishment. The day goes by quickly from there. She spends most of the early morning watching cartoons and playing with Sofi. After lunch Alejandro comes home and they play Candyland and Sorry together as a family. When it nears 5 o’ clock, Sofi runs off to play with the boy next door in the neighbor’s yard where she will be staying while the older Cabellos go out to dinner. This gives Camila an opportunity to slip away, check her phone, and get dressed for the occasion.

 

She has several texts waiting for her, but two of them are from Lauren, so she checks them first.

 

To: Camila

From: Lauren

 

“Likewise babe. And nah, my siblings weren’t invited. I can’t wait to see you tonight. <3”

 

Camila smiles at the first text, but her grin soon turns to concern upon inspection of the message below it.

 

To: Camila

From: Lauren

 

“SOS. Call me when you have the chance!”

 

Scenarios run through her head at a mile a minute. She checks to make sure her parents aren’t looking for her and shuts the bedroom door for some privacy before hitting the call button. She hears noise from talking in the background when Lauren picks up, indicating she is still in an occupied space.

 

“Camila? Hold on. I need to get away to my room,” Lauren explains from the other end before Camila hears complete silence, suggesting her girlfriend is using the mute button.

 

It’s only two minutes but feels more like two hours before Lauren’s voice returns with the background noise absent.

 

“Sorry about that. My dad and brother got into this debate about rock history during trivial pursuit. I don’t think either one of them plans to surrender any time soon.”

 

“Are they going to forget about dinner?”

 

“Nah, my mom has great strategies for breaking things up when she needs them,” Lauren assured.

 

“I hope we don’t become one of those things,” Camila admits, remembering why she called in the first place.

 

She hears Lauren take a deep breath.

 

“Not yet, but we may have a problem,” Lauren warns.

 

“Out with it, Jauregui,” Camila commands, unable to handle not knowing any longer.

 

“Have you checked any of your tweets or texts from other people?”

 

“No I left my phone in my room all day and only checked the two you sent me.”

 

“People have gone absolutely insane since our last selfie. I am not even exaggerating this time. We trended worldwide and my mom is the least pleased she has ever been,” Lauren explains.

 

“I’m confused. We trended when we made the announcement, too. What’s the problem now?”

 

“Camila, they trended #CamrenSexTape,” Lauren whispers, taking extra caution that nobody overhears if they happen to be near her door.

 

Camila nearly drops her phone, her reflexes allowing her to catch it before it has the chance to smash against the floor. She doesn’t trust herself to continue standing, so she sits on her bed, back rested against her headboard. The length of silence begins to make Lauren nervous.

 

“Are you okay?” she asks, anticipating that Camila’s shock is similar to what she felt when she had to learn the same news from her own mother an hour or so prior.

 

“There is no tape. There has been no sex. I don’t get it,” Camila rushes out, still attempting to process how this was happening to them.

 

“My mom jumped to the same conclusion as everyone else about our last picture. I told her my sex life is nobody’s business but promised her there isn’t currently, nor will there ever be, a tape showcasing it,” Lauren asserts.

 

Camila blushes deeply, glad she is in a room by herself, certain it would be evident on her skin at least a little bit.

 

“Oh my god. How am I going to sit through dinner with her? If your parents didn’t think I corrupted you before, they definitely do now!”

 

“Relax, Camz. I didn’t tell her we’re having sex. I just didn’t deny it. She is mostly concerned about the social media creating a commentary about it, especially when it’s based on a false claim. We could technically sue the person who wrote about having the tape for libel but that sounds like an expensive, headache-inducing process,” Lauren concludes.

 

Camila hears a knock on her bedroom door and jumps at the unexpected interruption.

 

“Someone’s at the door,” Camila informs Lauren quickly before lowering her phone and yelling “Come in!”

 

Sinu enters the room and shuts the door behind her.

 

“Can you tell Lauren you’ll see her at dinner? I’d like to speak with you in private for a moment,” Mrs. Cabello requests softly, sitting behind her daughter on the bed.

 

Camila nods and passes the message along to Lauren before hanging up. She sets her phone down on the table beside her bed and attempts a smile, although her mother’s expression is a rare kind of serious.

 

“I guess you saw what happened on Twitter. Lauren just told me over the phone,” Camila replies slowly, still feeling overwhelmed.

 

“I know I can’t protect you from everything, although before The X Factor and Fifth Harmony came along it was much easier to believe that I could. Not to say I regret either of these things because I have seen the changes in you over the past couple years and all of them have been for the better. However, I am worried that you and Lauren are getting in over your heads right now when it comes to personal matters.”

 

Instinctually, Camila wants to say she disagrees, but she knows better. There’s nobody worth fooling, especially not her own mother.

 

“Lauren and I have been trying to slowly navigate a new relationship in the middle of a fast-paced industry and sometimes it jumps so far ahead we don’t know what we’re doing,” Camila confides.

 

Sinu places a comforting hand on Camila’s right knee and smiles.

 

“You have both handled yourself very gracefully so far. I wish I could say the same for the press. They have invented a story this time that crosses a very inappropriate line and I fear some damage may be done even though there is no evidence to back up the accuser.”

 

“I want to continue living my dream, but I don’t want that to be at the expense of giving up my dream girl. What if that decision is right around the corner? I don’t want to choose.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

“That was less stressful than expected,” Camila expresses in relief from the passenger seat of the car Lauren has been given permission to borrow from her parents.

Lauren turns the key in the ignition then pauses so the engine can warm up.

“We spent so much time talking about the band I almost forgot we’re dating,” Lauren teases, “and maybe they did too cause they just trusted us to go out on our own for a while.”

“Do you think we should have disguised ourselves somehow?”

Lauren shakes her head.

“We are going to the beach at like 9 PM. The only phone we’re bringing is my sister’s. Neither of us has tipped fans off that we’re home. Let’s go back to before we were famous. That’s what tonight is about…before we face the shit show waiting for us afterward,” Lauren insists.

“Show me what it’s like to go on a date with Lauren Jauregui, softball enthusiast.”

“Only if you agree to bring Karla Cabello, thespian.”

“You have yourself a deal, m’lady,” Camila replies in an exaggerated theatrical tone.

“That didn’t take much coaxing,” Lauren tells her, grinning stupidly.

“Get to driving, Jauregui. We have a curfew.”

Lauren places her foot on the brake pedal and switches gears to reverse so they can back out of the driveway.

“Alright, we’ll go. But the first fact about this girl you’re meeting is she doesn’t follow curfews.”

 

The girls arrive at the nearest beach access and park in a nearly empty lot. There is only one other car in sight and its owners are nowhere to be found.

“Did you pack a flashlight?” Camila asks, unaware of what all they have with them since Lauren’s invitation had been a surprise at the end of dinner.

“Yes, I brought 2. I grabbed stuff kinda quickly though because I almost lost my nerve to ask about borrowing the car and taking you out after the scandal news dropped,” Lauren admits.

“That’s okay. All I need for a good time tonight is a towel, a flashlight, and my girlfriend,” Camila responds smoothly.

“Then we’re definitely set,” Lauren assures her, getting out of the car to retrieve their required items from the trunk.

Camila carries a flashlight, a towel, and a bag Lauren had stuffed with snacks just in case. Lauren carries her own flashlight and towel which is accompanied by an iPod dock and medium-sized blanket. They are still wearing their clothes from the restaurant, but their footwear has changed to flip flops that Lauren took out of the back seat. They decide to walk down the beach for a while so they lessen their chances of running into anyone near the entrance although it appears highly unlikely. When they find a spot they are satisfied with, Lauren and Camila set down their towels and place their other items on top. Camila helps Lauren spread out their blanket a short distance from where the waves stop and they both plop down beside one another once they are satisfied with the setup.

“I really missed this,” Lauren confesses, lying back so she is flat against the blanket. She grabs Camila’s hand and tugs on it gently to encourage her to follow. They keep their fingers entwined as they stare upward at the clear sky full of stars while listening to the soft sound of the nearby waves meeting the shore. There is a comfortable silence that passes between them, a sign of mutual understanding that they both need a moment to get lost in the surroundings that are familiar yet also triggering to memories that seem very distant now.

Camila breaches the silence first.

“Do you remember that last time you visited the beach before auditioning?”

Lauren turns her head towards her girlfriend and smiles.

“Yeah. My whole family was here. We had a picnic and played volleyball with another family we ran into. They had a daughter around Chris’s age and he made a complete idiot of himself trying to show off,” she recalls, laughing softly.

“Good thing Sofi is too young for that. Last time we were here together I let her bury me and helped her build a castle. Then we went searching for Spongebob,” Camila adds with amusement in her tone.

“I think you would need a submarine for that.”

“Yeah but have you ever tried reasoning with a child? I don’t recommend it,” Camila replies wisely.

“I can’t argue with that,” Lauren agrees before releasing her hold on Camila’s hand and sitting up to transfer the items laying on her towel over to the blanket so she can get ready to use it. Camila observes as Lauren folds the towel onto her lap and looks out at the ocean.

“I’ve never been out in the water while it’s this dark,” Camila explains, certain that’s where her girlfriend’s mind is set on going.

“We won’t go out too far. If I don’t bring us back alive, your parents will revive me just so they can kill me again,” Lauren jests.

“Well that’s reassuring,” Camila replies sarcastically.

“Sorry. Can you unzip my dress?” Lauren requests, pointing behind her back.

“You brought swimwear? How is that fair?” Camila pouts before reaching toward the zipper on the back of her girlfriend’s dress as instructed.

“Not exactly,” Lauren whispers as Camila tugs the zipper down to reveal the back of what appears to be a regular bra. She stands up to finish removing the dress, letting it fall to the blanket gently, revealing that she has matching underwear. Camila stares for a moment, not sure what to make of the sight before her.

“C’mon Camz, it’s basically the same as a bikini,” Lauren informs her, not oblivious to the fact that she is being checked out.

Camila looks down at the blouse and skirt combination she had chosen before dinner, cursing under her breath about her impromptu decision to forgo wearing a bra with it.

“You’re gonna have to wear less than that if you want us to be even,” she finally clarifies, lifting up her blouse to reveal her bare chest. Lauren’s eyes dart across the beach in all directions as she checks to verify they are still alone while Camila finishes taking off her clothing.

“So this is what they mean when they say theater kids have no shame?” Lauren inquires, noting the stereotype as a distraction from her girlfriend’s current state of nudity.

“Now is as good a time as any for crossing skinny dipping off my list,” Camila asserts, placing her clothing on the corner of their blanket and waiting for Lauren to make a decision.

“Mine too,” Lauren nods in agreement before stripping the last articles covering her body and motioning for Camila to run towards the waves with her.

The water is cooler than the temperature they had experienced on land, but they adjust quickly as they get up to their knees then become bolder and get up to their waist. They find themselves being lifted slightly when each new wave passes them but they resist following them inland.  Camila starts a splashing war once the lower halves of their bodies are completely numb to the chill of the water and Lauren joins in without protest. Their playful splashing becomes more vicious as they progress to dunking one another. Lauren catches Camila off guard with one particular dunk, causing the younger girl to get a mouthful of salty ocean water that she quickly works to spit back out. The prolonged gagging worries Lauren so she approaches Camila, bringing them closer so she can rub her back gently.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to drown you or anything!”

Camila rubs her arm across her mouth, trying to fool her mind that the taste has been completely wiped away although it is still very much present on her taste buds. Lauren is confused when her girlfriend’s glare quickly switches to a smirk until she feels lips against her own and a bitter saltiness is picked up by her senses. Usually she would welcome Camila’s tongue entering her mouth, but this time around the action is one of revenge and Lauren is eager to pull away.

“Bleh if kissing always tasted like that abstinence-only education might actually stand a chance,” Lauren suggests, regretting letting the dunking get so careless.

Camila has a look of pure satisfaction on her face, much to Lauren’s chagrin.

“Yeah totally, that must be why there’s a drink called ‘sex on the beach’,” Camila responds casually.

“No, that’s why there’s not a drink called ‘sex in the salty sea’,” Lauren quips.

“I guess we should relocate then,” Camila mumbles, facing toward shore and starting to walk away.

Lauren is too stunned to follow her. Camila makes it back to their blanket and is already drying off before the other girl regains the sense to move again and join her.

“You come on strong for a first date,” Lauren accuses as she grabs her own towel and wraps it around her body.

“But it took your mind off everything else, didn’t it?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update is short and it took a really long time to happen. I apologize. On the bright side, I've been writing Minor Treble instead and it's coming along really well. I should sleep more and write less or work less and write more...but that last one's not really an option because I have to pay the bills. :(

**Chapter 15**

 

Reality comes pouring back in the next afternoon when Simon instructs Camila and Lauren to join him in an emergency video conference call. Camila stayed the night in the Jauregui's guest bedroom, so they are still at Lauren's house when they set up her laptop in her room for the call.

 

“I appreciate you taking my call on your day off, girls,” Simon begins, implying they had a choice in the matter.

 

“Sorry we've been ignoring our phones,” Camila apologizes, feeling slightly guilty that her and Lauren spent at least 12 hours disconnected from their technology to avoid this very conversation.

 

“I gather you still managed to hear about the little scandal on our hands?”

 

“We did,” Lauren confirms.

 

“Luckily we have managed to fix this one up. Once we found the guy claiming to have the video he was all too eager to retract his statement publicly for us when serious criminal charges were the alternative. Possessing or distributing sexually explicit material involving minors is never taken lightly when brought before a judge.”

 

“So everyone knows he lied?” Camila requests for clarification.

 

“Yes, his retraction of the original statement has been given proper media attention. But that doesn't mean there isn't more damage control to be done. We'll need to be more careful from here on out with how we present your relationship to the public,” Simon explains.

 

“I'm not going to walk on eggshells with my girlfriend just because some low life tried to exploit our relationship,” Lauren bursts out, surprising both Camila and Simon.

 

Camila looks over at her girlfriend with concern and Simon glances between both of them in confusion.

 

“I expected you to be relieved,” Simon admits.

 

“I think what Lauren means is that we don't want it to appear as if someone apart from the two of us has control of our relationship,” Camila suggests.

 

“That includes you,” Lauren defends to the surprise of both people present, “Camz and I should be calling the shots. It's our relationship, not yours or theirs.”

 

“I organized this story, Lauren. I've given you some freedom with it, but when it comes down to it you're still operating on my terms,” Simon reminds her.

 

“I'm nobody's puppet,” Lauren asserts, hitting the 'end call' button without a second thought.

 

“Did that really just happen?” Camila wonders aloud, watching as Lauren closes the laptop and walks over to her bed, plopping herself down to get comfortable.

 

“I meant what I said about us being exploited. It started with our friendship when Simon asked us to fake this relationship in the first place. Now we have to water down our real relationship? Forget it.”

 

Lauren scoots back to clear room for Camila as she makes her way over to join her on the bed. Camila lays down facing her girlfriend and reaches out to hold her hand.

 

“I agree with you, but Lo, you just hung up on one of the biggest names in the music industry,” Camila points out.

 

Lauren rolls so she is on her back and pulls Camila closer to her body so her head is laying on her chest.

 

“I don't care. We already have a contract, a fan base, and three irreplaceable best friends. No amount of power is gonna mess with this, with us,” Lauren promises as she begins playing with Camila's hair.

 

Camila's eyelids close slowly as she allows herself to relax at Lauren's touch.

 

“Hmm, maybe we should stay here like this and not go back,” Camila teases.

 

Lauren shakes her head gently and pokes her girlfriend on the cheek to scold her mildly.

 

“They would send Big Rob. He'd carry both of us away. You know he's capable.”

 

Camila opens her eyes back up and curls her lip into a pout.

 

“You're not cute,” Lauren fibs, intentionally looking anywhere else in the room except at Camila.

 

“You're a horrible liar,” the younger girl accuses.

 

Lauren shrugs before shifting her body into a preferable position and wrapping her arms around the petite girl in front of her so they're spooning. They lay in silence for several minutes, content with living in the moment. Clara is the one to take them out of their daze, entering the room after a hasty two knock warning.

 

“Camila, your mom is trying to get ahold of you. She says you haven't been answering your phone or replying to messages,” she announces.

 

Camila sighs and Lauren reluctantly pulls her arms away so the girl being addressed has the freedom to get up and check her phone which is set to silent and sitting on the desk.

 

“Can you take me home?” she requests, looking between the two Jauregui women, not sure which would be more likely to do the driving although she knew who she preferred to have drop her off.

 

“You can take the car again, but please be back by dinner,” Clara directs at Lauren, knowing her eldest child would try to spend the whole evening with her girlfriend if she didn't request otherwise.

 

“Yeah, I'll come right back,” Lauren agrees before getting out of her bed and retrieving the keys from her mother. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 

Lauren leans against her family's car and pulls Camila into her while standing outside the Cabello residence. Her hands are against Camila's face, her right thumb stroking her girlfriend's left cheek. Their noses are touching and they're looking into each others eyes. Lauren tilts her head slightly to give Camila a light kiss on the lips before pulling back a little bit to resume their eye contact.

 

“I wish I could stay,” she whispers truthfully.

 

“Me, too,” Camila agrees with a nod before reconnecting their lips and decreasing the amount of space between their bodies. When they pull away, Lauren spots Alejandro peeking through one of the front windows from over Camila's shoulder. She shifts her weight so it is no longer resting against the car and gestures for Camila to put some space between them. 

 

“Your dad's watching,” she explains, not wanting Camila to get the wrong idea about her cutting them off. 

 

“Figures,” Camila admits with a sigh. 

 

“We'll be back on the road together tomorrow,” Lauren reminds her.

 

“I know. Thanks for dropping me off.”

 

Camila gives her girlfriend one last peck on the lips before walking toward her house and accepting their 24 hours of separation. Lauren watches until Camila shuts the front door behind her before taking off.

 

Hours later, Camila feels her cell vibrate in her pocket while she is lying in bed reading, and when she pulls it out Dinah's name flashes on the screen. She decides to answer it.

 

“Hi Di,” Camila greets through the phone.

 

“Girl, you have some explaining to do,” she accuses immediately.

 

“I do?” Camila asks, genuinely unsure which of the recent events Dinah would be most eager to discuss.

 

“You ignored texts all day. None of us believed that crazy guy about the sex tape, you know? Definitely not true. Now seeing you getting all hot n heavy against Lauren's car on the gram though...maybe half of it is?”

 

“What?”

 

“I think one of your neighbors is after a quick dollar,” Dinah suggests.

 

“Somebody took pics of Lauren and I outside my house today?”

 

“Yep. You got somebody nosy in your 'hood.”

 

“I can't wait until we release our album. Then people will have something else to talk about.”

 

“They best not forget about our album. It jams. But for real, are you and Lauren okay?”

 

“Yeah, everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?”

 

“Clara posted a twitlonger. And she was on a rampage against users making inappropriate comments about Camren. Thought she might ask Lauren to cool it down.”

 

Camila starts to feel sick to her stomach. She has no reason to believe Clara would really do such a thing when she was perfectly polite at dinner last night and even allowed Lauren to drop her off alone today. But Dinah is voicing a real fear of hers and she can't help but react.

 

“She wouldn't do that, and even if she did, Lauren would never agree,” Camila asserts, remembering back to how Lauren reacted when Simon suggested they do exactly that.

 

Meanwhile, Lauren is eating dinner with her family in their dining room. Clara steps away to take a phone call and when she returns she motions for her daughter to join her in the next room.

 

“Simon is on the phone,” Clara explains, holding it out for her daughter to pick up. Lauren expects her to leave, but she doesn't budge. This must be their strategy to prevent her from hanging up right away.

 

“Hello?” Lauren asks into the phone.

 

“Lauren, I gather you are ready to make up for your mistake this morning.”

 

“No, I meant it,” she replies.

 

“Certainly you don't wish to ruin the career of four other girls...”

 

“This sounds oddly familiar. I'm not into taking guilt trips,” Lauren cuts in.

 

Clara gives Lauren a warning look, but she ignores it.

 

“Let's cut to the chase then, shall we. I need you to break up with Camila.”

 

Lauren is fuming at this point and disregards her mother's presence.

 

“It was your idea for us tell everyone we're together in the first place! You can't just take back your word and expect me to take back my feelings. I love Camila and I love to sing, and the only one telling me I can't act on both is you!”

 

Lauren is pacing the floor at this point and Clara looks confused after hearing the first part of Lauren's rant. Simon's idea?

 

“Are you done?” Simon asks, waiting for Lauren to let off the rest of her steam.

 

Lauren stops pacing, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and rubs her forehead with two fingers.

 

“Fine, go on,” she requests, not particularly interested in what her boss has to say but knowing she'll have to hear it eventually anyway.

 

“Your public relationship with Camila, it stays. Your private relationship with Camila, either it goes now or you go away after the album release.”

 

“That's an empty ultimatum. There's a contract. You won't profit a dime without me, without all five of us.”

 

“The other four are still bound to the agreement regardless of your absence.”

 

“They wouldn't cooperate, not after hearing the truth from me,” Lauren challenges.

 

“How quickly you forget the power that comes with money, Lauren. Not one of them can afford to back out of it. Not in terms of wealth. Not in terms of their future success. When someone is done with me, they're done with the industry, and you're flirting with the exit sign.”

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Stunt Double**

**Chapter 17**

 

“I'm going to get your father from the dining room. Then we're talking about this together. Right now,” Clara announces once Lauren's call with Simon has ended and she returns the phone to its owner.

Lauren, who is shaking with anger after the conversation with Simon, is just starting to calm down when both of her parents return to the same room and take a seat across from her.

“Your mother told me you've been arguing with Simon. Lo, I know you understand what type of repercussions there could be for your actions right now. Please explain to us what's happening,” Mr. Jauregui insists.

“I'd like you to begin at the part where he had something to do with you and Camila's relationship?” Mrs. Jauregui adds.

Lauren knows she can't lie at this point, so she doesn't even try.

“Camila and I came out as a publicity stunt. We were the hottest topic on social media about the band apparently, so Simon pretty much forced us together to boost the buzz about Fifth Harmony prior to the album release.”

To say her parents are shocked would be an understatement and it definitely shows on their facial expressions.

“Why didn't you tell us this was happening? I don't think it was right of him to do that to you girls. We should have at least been consulted,” Mike replies, clearly upset.

“He made it seem like we had no choice and it was only going to be a couple months. Just a little bit of acting then we could break up and go on like nothing changed. Except it did. Camila really is my girlfriend now and he's ordering me to break up with her,” Lauren explains as she allows her face to fall into her hands and begins to rub the sides of her forehead with her pinkies out of stress.

“Lauren, honey, I know this isn't what you want to hear but...I agree with Simon. Not about putting you up to dating your bandmate in the first place, but definitely about how to handle it now,” Clara confesses.

“What? Are you fucking kidding me?” Lauren suddenly bursts out, looking at her mother like she has lost her mind.

“Lauren, language...” her father reminds gently.

“I'll use whatever language I damn well please. This is bullshit. I've worked my ass off to have this opportunity to create an album with four of the most wonderful, crazy talented girls I've met in my life and it's ridiculous that I'm being punished for falling in love with one of them in the process.”

“Lauren,” Clara uses a tone of concern as Lauren stands up and reaches into her pocket for the car keys she still had from earlier.

“You know what? What's another lie, huh? I've been wrapped up in so many lately there's no point in breaking the chain. Simon's going to get his break up, but neither Camz nor I will be heartbroken,” Lauren declares before storming out of the room and towards the front door, the Cabello's house becoming her destination once again.

_To: Camz_

_From: Lo^2_

_Meet me outside._

Lauren sends a text to Camila right after she pulls up to the curb outside her house and waits. It takes about three minutes and she's about to hit the call button when her girlfriend appears and approaches her.

“What's up?” Camila begins to inquire before she sees the serious expression Lauren is making and amends her greeting to “What's wrong?”

“Simon asked me to break up with you,” Lauren announces softly while staring at the ground.

She considered many reactions she may receive to the news on her drive over, but Camila's response is nothing like she anticipated.

“We can't talk about this here. There have been neighbors spying,” she quickly explains, gesturing for them to get inside Lauren's family's car.

“Won't your family be confused if we leave?”

“No, we're only watching a movie and I told them it was an emergency.”

Lauren drives them to a lookout near the ocean. It doesn't have as much traffic because there isn't a beach access trail and exists simply for viewing the scenery. Once they're parked and the car is shut off, they stay seated but unbuckled.

“I'm not going to break up with you,” Lauren assures her first, wanting to make it clear she has no intention of following Simon's orders.

“But that's really what Simon wants?”

“Yes and no. He wants everyone to believe we're still dating, but he wants you and I to stop seeing each other for real because he knows we're not faking anymore. Also, my parents know about the whole stunt and my mom thinks we should break up, too.”

“Dinah warned me your mom might lean that way based on the Twitter drama today. I told her not to worry about it because I knew you wouldn't let her dictate our relationship. I was right, wasn't I?” Camila asks while awkwardly leaning over toward Lauren's seat and lifting the lever beneath it to push her as far back as it allows.

“Uh Camz...what are you doing?” Lauren wonders before Camila clumsily climbs over to straddle her lap, elbowing her in the boob and narrowly missing honking the horn with her butt in the process.

“Oh my god, I'm so sorry. This seems so much sexier when I read about it in fanfiction,” Camila apologizes before shifting to a slightly more comfortable position with her legs bent back on either side of Lauren, basically on her knees with her feet hovering over the edge of the seat a bit.

“What's the golden rule again? If you hurt something, kiss it to make it feel better?” Lauren teases with a smirk, temporarily distracted from their predicament.

“That can be arranged,” Camila replies, reaching for the first button on the top of Lauren's shirt to demonstrate.

Camila is up to the fourth button before Lauren comes to her senses and stops her.

“I was kidding. You don't have to...”

“I want to,” Camila asserts, reaching for the next button again without additional protest.

After all the buttons are opened and her bra and torso are completely exposed, Lauren tries to reason with Camila one last time before her brain gets lost to lust.

“We'll still have to talk about it, Camila. About lying to Si...”

Camila cuts her girlfriend off with a rough kiss to the lips. When she pulls back a little, she shakes her head before placing a couple more kisses down the side of Lauren's neck and along her right shoulder. Lauren groans when Camila's left hand sneaks up to cup her injured right breast.

“Don't think, just feel,” Camila whispers by Lauren's ear as she is reaching behind her to tug her shirt down and release her arms from the sleeves so she has access to unhook her bra.

When everything above Lauren's waist is exposed to her, Camila looks her up and down with a grin.

“I haven't been able to get the image of your body out of my head since last night,” she confesses while her gaze is traveling slowly upward to commit everything to memory again until it finally rests when they make eye contact.

“Any time you want to claim it, I'm yours,” Lauren offers before leaning forward and sealing the deal with another kiss.  


End file.
